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I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. | 





GEARY AND KANSAS. 



GOVERNOR GEARY'S ADMINISTRATION 

IN 

KANSAS: 

WITH A COMPLETE 

HISTORY or THE TERRITORY 
UNTIL JULY 1857: 

EMBRACINa A FULL ACCOUNT OF 

ITS DISCOVERY, GEOGRAPHY, SOIL, RIVERS, CLIMATE, PRODUCTS ; ITS 

ORGANIZATION AS A TERRITORY, TRANSACTIONS AND EVENTS 

UNDER GOVERNORS REEDER AND SHANNON, POLITICAL 

DISSENSIONS, PERSONAL RENCOUNTRES, ELECTION 

FRAUDS, BATTLES AND OUTRAGES. 

ALL FULLY AUTHENTICATED. 

BY 

JOHN H. GIHON, M.D., 

PRIVATE SECRETARY OE GOVERNOR GEARY. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

C H A S. C. E H D E S. 

1 8 5 T . 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 

C. C. RHODES. 

In tlie Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for 
the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



PREFACE 



In giving this work to the public, tlie author has been actu- 
ated solely by a sense of duty. Unbiassed by any partisan or 
personal considerations, he has related, in as plain and com- 
prehensive a manner as possible, the facts, as they came under 
his own observation, were communicated to him by individu- 
als immediately connected with the events described, or have 
been gleaned from other reliable sources. 

The writer is alone responsible for the contents of the book. 
During his official connection with Governor Geary, he availed 
himself of his opportunities for information, and has substan- 
tiated many of his statements, by the official documents, now 
on file in the Department of State at Washington, and which 
passed through his hands in the executive office in Kansas. 
These are public property, and there has been no impropriety 
or breach of trust in their employment. 

Many important incidents have been omitted for want of 
sufficient corroboration ; the writer having determined to tell 
the .truth, and nothing but the truth. The whole truth can 
only be brought to light in that great day when all human 
secrets and mysteries will be revealed. 

The author cannot be accused of any undue prejudices in 

(3) 



IV PREFACE. 

favor of the free-soil party. "When he went to Kansas, all his 
proclivities were on the opposite side, which he did not hesi- 
tate to make known on all proper occasions, and among all 
classes of people. The free-soilers regarded him as their 
enemy, and the pro-slavery leaders received him with marked 
favor as a new accession to their forces. With the latter he 
constantly associated, and his impressions were strengthened 
by their representations of territorial affairs. Hence his let- 
ters to the eastern papers, with which he corresponded, were 
severely condemnatory of the free-state party of Kansas. He 
resisted as long as possible the daily accumulating evidences 
of his error; but with many others like himself, was at length 
forced, though unwillingly, to acknowledge the truth of the 
statements contained in this volume. 

Governor Geary, during his administration in Kansas, 
observed a strict neutrality in regard to the question of slavery, 
and invariably pursued that impartial line of policy which his 
official documents indicate. He was, however, a firm and un- 
wavering Democrat, and for aught that has appeared to the 
contrary, still adheres closely to the party with which he has 
always been associated. The writer is also an advocate of the 
true principles of Democracy; but he repudiates that new 
plank which has been suiTeptitiously inserted into the Demo- 
cratic platform, that gives to the single idea of slavery ex- 
tension an ascendancy over every other consideration. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Description of the Territory. — Its boundaries — risers — prairies — 
woodlands — soil— climate — appearance — and general characteris- 
tics 15 



CHAPTER IL 

Discovery and early exploration of Kansas. — The Indians of the Ter- 
ritory. — Their reserves. — The Shawnee Mission . . . .18 



CHAPTER in. 

Application of Missouri for admission into the Union. — The restric- 
tion and compromise bills of 1818-19-20. — Debates on the Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill. — The Organic Act of Kansas Territory . , . 24 



CHAPTER IV. 

The organic act a compromise measure. — Kansas intended for a slave 
state. — Conduct of the pro-slavery party. — Persecutions of free- 
state people. — New England Emigrant Aid Societies. — Public meet- 
ings. — Blue Lodges. — Invasion from Westport — Arrival of Grovernor 
Reeder. — Judges of the Supreme Court ...... 27 

CHAPTER V. 

Elections.—Gen. Whitfield's politics.— Meetings in Missouri to control 
the Kansas elections. — The Missouri press. — The Lynching of Wil- 
liam Phillips. — Outrages upon the free-state citizens approved. — 
Destruction of the " Parkeville Luminary" ..... 83 

1* (5) 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VL 

PAGB 

Census returns, February, 1855. — The election of March 30th. — The 
Legislative Assembly 38 

CHAPTER VIL 

Removal of Governor Reeder. — Secretary "Woodson. — Assumption of 
power by the Legislature. — OflBce-holders all pro-slavery men. — 
Free-state mass meetings and conventions. — Elections for delegate 
to Congress. — Free-state Constitution adopted. — Dr. Charles Robin- 
son elected governor. — Meetings of the State Legislature. — Arrest 
of Robinson and others for high treason. — The Topeka Legislature 
dispersed by Col. Sumner 41 



CHAPTER VIIL 

The Kansas Legion. — Patrick Laughlin. — The murder of Collins. — 
Outrages upon J. W. B. Kelley. — Rev. Pardee Butler set adrift in 
the Missouri River on a raft. — Disputes about land claims. — The 
murder of Dow. — Portrait of Sheriff Jones. — Arrest and rescjie of 
Jacob Branson 4^ 



CHAPTER IX. 

Governor Wilson Shannon. — Consequences of the arrest and rescue 
of Branson. — Meeting at Lawrence. — Military organization for do- 
fence. — Sheriff Jones requires three thousand men. — The governor 
orders out the militia. — A general call to arms. — The governor 
issues a proclamation. — War excitement in Missouri. — The invading 
army. — Governor Shannon's excuse 53 



CHAPTER X. 

The governor calls upon Colonel Sumner for United States troops. — 
Proposition for the Lawrence people to surrender their arms. — The 
governor makes a treaty with the free-state generals. — Dispersion 
of the militia . "69 



CHAPTER XL 
The murder of Thomas W. Barber . . . ... , ,65 

CHAPTER XIL 

Pro-slavery mob at Leavenworth. — Ballot-box stolen and clerk beaten. 
— The jail and printing office destroyed. — The election and fight 
near Easton. — Murder of Captain E. P. Brown. — Shannon receives 
authority to employ the troops. — Congressional Committee. — -Arrival 
of Buford and his southern regiment. — Sheriff Jones shot at Law- 
rence. — Rev. Pardee Butler tarred aad feathered . . . .70 



CONTENTS. VU 

CHAPTER XnL 

PAGE 

Charge of Judge Lecompte to the Grrand Jury. — Presentment. — Ar- 
rests at Lawrence. — Travellers interrupted on the highways. — The 
murder of Jones and Stewart. — The sacking of Lawrence. — Burning 
of the hotel and destruction of printing offices . . . .77 



CHAPTER XrV. 

Murderous assault on a pro-slavery company. — Captain John Brown. 
— The Potawattomie murders. — Outrages of Captain Pate at Osawat- 
tomie. — Battle of Palmyra. — Fight at Franklin. — General Whitfield's 
army. — Colonel Sumner disperses the contending armies. — Murder 
of Cantral. — Sacking of Osawattomie. — The murder of Gay, an In- 
dian agent. — Outrages at Leavenworth and on the Missouri River . 



CHAPTER XV. 

Removal of Colonel Sumner and appointment of General P. F. Smith. 
— Free-state refugees driven from Fort Leavenworth. — Immigration 
from the North. — Destruction of pro-slavery forts by free-state 
bands. — Murder of Major Hoyt. — Defeat of the pro-slavery forces 
at Franklin. — Colonel Titus captured by Captain Walker, and his 
house burned. — Alarm at Lecompton. — Governor Shannon makes 
another treaty with the Lawrence people ..... 92 



CHAPTER XVL 

Atchison and Stringfellow call on Missourians for assistance. — Mr. 
Hoppe and a teamster scalped. — A German murdered at Leaven- 
worth. — Outrages upon a young female. — Shannon removed, and 
Woodson acting-governor. — Atchison concentrates an army at Little 
Santa Fe. — General L. A. Maclean his commissary. — He robs the 
settlers and the United States mails. — Reid attacks Brown at Osa- 
wattomie, who retreats and the town is sacked and destroyed. — 
Murder of Frederick Brown and insanity of his brother John. — 
Lane drives Atchison into Missouri. — Outrages at the Quaker Mis- 
sion. — Burning of free-state houses. — Lane threatens Lecompton. — 
Dead bodies found and buried. — Captain Emory murders Phillips, 
and drives free-state residents from Leavenworth . . . .97 



CHAPTER XVIL 

Appointment of Governor Geary. — His departure for Kansas. — Arrival 
at Jefferson City. — Interviews with Governor Price. — Removal of 
obstructions on the Missouri River. — Departure on steamboat Key- 
stone. — Scenes at Glasgow. — Captain Jackson's Missouri volunteers. 
— What Reeder did. — Arrival at Kansas City. — Description of Border 
Ruffians. — Who comprise the Abolitionists. — Appearance and condi- 
tion of Leavenworth City 103 



fin CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

PAGE 

Arrival at Fort Leavenworth.— General P. F. Smith.^-— Free-state men 
driven from Leavenworth City. — Pressed horses. — John D. Hender- 
son. — Violation of the United States safeguard. — Arrest of Captain 
Emory. — Character of his company. — Governor Geary's letter to 
Col. Clarkson. — Rev. Mr. Nute. — District Attorney Isacks . .109 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Fort Leavenworth. — Departure for Lecompton. — Barricade at Leaven- 
worth City. — Excuse for Border Ruf&an outrages. — Terror of James 
H. Lane. — Hair breadth escapes.— Anecdotes of the times. — Robbery 
at Alexandria. — A chase and race. — The robbers overtaken. — Arrival 
at Lecompton. — Letter to the Secretary of State. — Two men shot at 
Lecompton ••••••••••• 114 

CHAPTER XX. 

The town of Lecompton. — Its location and moral character. — The ac- 
counts of their grievances by the pro-slavery party. — Policy indi- 
cated by that party for Governor Geary. — The Inaugural address. — 
Proclamations ordering the dispersion of armed bodies, and for 
organizing the militia of the territory 122 

CHAPTER XXL 

Gloomy prospect for Governor Geary's administration. — Determination 
to make Kansas a slave state. — Opposition to the new governor. — 
Address to the people of the slave states. — Secretary Woodson's 
proclamation .••••••••*• 127 

CHAPTER XXIL 

The Missouri army. — Orders to the adjutant and inspector-generals of 
the territory. — Dispatch to Secretary Marcy. — Dispatches from Gene- 
ral Heiskell. — Message from the governor's special agent. — Requi- 
sition for troops. — Visit of the governor to Lawrence, and return to 
Lecompton 133 



CHAPTER XXIIL 

Excitement at Lecompton. — Affidavit of W. F. Dyer. — Requisition for 
troops. — The battle at Hickory Point. — Arrest of one hundred and 
one free-state prisoners. — The killing of Grayson, a pro-slavery man. 
Treatment of the prisoners. — Conduct of Judges Lecompte and Cato. 
— Trial and sentence of the prisoners, and their subsequent treat- 
ment , 139 



CONTENTS. iX 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

PAGE 

The Missouri army of invasion. — Letter from Theodore Adams. — Go- 
vernor Geary proceeds with troops to Lawrence, and protects the 
town. — The governor visits the camp of the Missourians, addresses 
the officers; and disbands the force ....••• 148 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Improved condition of things. — Attempt to resurrect the courts and 
incite the judges to the performance of their duty.— Judges Burrell, 
Cato and Lecompte. — The examination and trial of free-state 
prisoners. — Directions to Judge Cato. — Letters to the Supreme 
Judges. — Replies of Judges Cato and Lecompte. — Great criminals 
permitted to run at liberty. — Discharge of free-state men on bail. 
— Judge Lecompte's defence 157 

CHAPTER XXVL 

The murder of Buffum. — Warrant for the arrest of the murderer. — 
Partial conduct of the marshals. — Reward offered. — Indignation of 
free-state citizens. — Arrest of Charles Hays . • . . . 166 



CHAPTER XXVn. 

Discharge of Hays by Judge Lecompte. — Order for his re-arrest, — Con- 
duct of Marshal Donalson. — Col. Titus re-arrests Hays, who is again 
set at liberty by Lecompte on a writ of habeas corpus. — President 
Pierce and the United States Senate on the case of Lecompte. — Let- 
ter from Secretary Marcy asking explanations. — Governor Geary's 
reply. — Judge Lecompte's letter of vindication .... 172 

CHAPTER XXVIIL 

The United States Marshal. — His deputies. — Requisitions for United 
States soldiers. — Visit of the governor to Topeka, and arrest of pri- 
soners. — An address to the citizens of Topeka. — Report of the mar- 
shal. — Requisition declined, and an evil practice discontinued . 181 



CHAPTER XXIX. 
Arrival of free-state immigrants, and their treatment and discharge . 187 

CHAPTER XXX, 

Peace and quiet prevailing, — ^Visit to Lawrence. — Proclamation of the 
Mayor of Leavenworth. — Suspension of the liquor traffic in Lecomp- 
ton. — Organization of militia. — Escort for wagons furnished. — An- 
other election ...•.•••••. 192 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

PAOB 

Notes of a journey of observation ••••••• 195 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

The capitol building. — Captain Donaldson dismisses Justice Nelson's 
court. — Captain Walker surrenders himself. — Dragoons required for 
detached service. — Bad postal arrangements. — Free-state prisoners 
removed to Tecumseh. — The governor at Leavenworth. — Report of 
a deputation sent to arrest marauders 205 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Pay of the militia. — Settlers ordered from Indian reserve. — Sales of 
Delaware trust lands. — No prison in Kansas. — The capital appro- 
priation. — Grovernor Geary between two factions. — False reports. — 
Settlement of Hyattville. — Peace still prevailing . . • . 209 



CHAPTER XXXrV. 

The Topeka Legislature. — Arrest of its members. — Appropriation of 
Vermont Legislature for the suffering poor of Kansas . . . 214 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

Meeting of the Territorial Legislative Assembly at Lecompton . . 218 

CHAPTER XXXVL 

Act of the Legislative Assembly, to authorize courts and judges to 
admit to bail in all cases. — ^Veto message of the governor. — The bill 
passed. — Clarke and others bailed under the new law , , . 222 

CHAPTER XXXVIL 

Resolution of the legislature asking the governor's reasons for not 
commissioning Wm. T. Sherrard — Governor Geary's reply — Con- 
duct of the legislators — Violence of Sherrard .... * 227 

CHAPTER XXXVIIL * 

Sherrard's abettors^- Attempt to assassinate Governor Geary — Action 
of the legislature — Conduct of Judge Cato — Public indignation meet- 
ings — Outrage at a Lecompton meeting, resulting in the shooting 
and death of Sherrard . . . 233 



CONTENTS. XI 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

PAGE 

How the pro-slavery leaders in Lecompton held large and enthusiastic 
town meetings — Incendiary meeting at Lecompton — Calhoun's speech 
and sentiments — The Kansas laws not created to punish pro-slavery 
criminals 244 

CHAPTER XL. 

Meeting of a pro-slavery convention at Lecompton. — Discussion be- 
tween Hampton and Maclean. — Sheriff Jones endorsed. — Organiza- 
tion of the national democratic party of Kansas. — A novel platform. 
— The national administration favors the pro-slavery movements in 
Kansas. — Analysis of the cabinet. — Governor G-eary offered the 
United States senatorship. — Calhoun's address to the people of the 
United States. — Misrepresentations of its author exposed . . 252 



CHAPTER XLL 

Passage of the census bill. — Governor Geary's veto message. — The 
manner in which the census was taken. — Repeal of the test laws. — 
Adjournment of the Legislature. — Secretary Marcy and the Topeka 
Legislature. — Letter to the Secretary of State. — Arrest of a fugitive. 
— Rencontre at Topeka. — Complaint of prisoners. — Breaking up of 
the Kansas River . • . . • 260 



CHAPTER XLIL 

Governor Geary's instructions. — The United States troops. — Enrol- 
ment, mustering and discharge of the militia. — The troops withheld 
from the service of the governor . 272 



CHAPTER XLIIL 
.Besignation of Governor Geary. — His Farewell Address • • • 287 

CHAPTER XLIV. 

Election of a free-state mayor at Leavenworth. — Arrest of the mur- 
derer of Hoppe. — Resignation of Judge Cunningham. — Appointment 
of Judge 'Williams. — Removal of Judge Lecompte. — Taking of the 
census. — Hon. Robert J. Walker . • 299 



Xll CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XLV. 

PA6B 

Arrival in Kansas of Secretary Stanton and Governor Walker. — Tbe 
policy of the new administration. — Disapprobation of the pro- 
slavery party • • • • 305 



APPENDIX. 

Message of Gov. Geary to the Legislative Assembly • . • » 309 
Inaugural Address oT Gov. Walker 328 



HISTORY OF KANSAS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Description of the Territory, — Its boundaries — rivers — prairies — wood- 
lands — soil — climate — appearance — and general characteristics. 

The territory of Kansas is a strip of land over two hundred 
miles in width, extending from the western boundary of Mis- 
souri to the highest ridge of the Rocky Mountains. It is 
bounded on the north by the territory of Nebraska; on the 
east by the state of Missouri ; on the south by the Indian Ter- 
ritory and New Mexico ; and on the west by the territory of 
Utah. 

Its principal river is the Kaw or Kansas, which empties 
into the Missouri in latitude 89°, and longitude 94°, at the 
southern point, where that river separates the territory from 
the state of Missouri. It flows eastward to this point, receiv- 
ing in its course many tributaries, some of which, the Repub- 
lican and the Smoky Hill Forks, take their rise in the Rocky 
Mountains. 

The north-western portion of the territory is watered by the 
tributaries of the Platte, which flows through Nebraska ; and 
the eastern and southern districts by the Osage and Upper 
Arkansas and their branches. 

None of these streams are navigable. A light-draught 
steamboat has passed up the Kansas more than one hundred 
miles, to Fort Eiley; but very few attempts have been made 
2 (13) 



14 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

to repeat the experiment. They might be successful, with a 
boat drawing from twelve to twenty inches of water, two or 
three months in the year. The bed of this river is wide, and 
the bottom a quicksand, which is constantly shifting with the 
current, forming bars and changing the course of the channel. 
Its water is always muddy, like that of the Missouri, whilst 
some of the streams that empty into it are remarkable for their 
clearness and purity. A number of these branches which, 
during the seasons of freshets, swell to streams of considerable 
magnitude, are perfectly dry the greater portion of the year, 
although in many places pure water can be obtained a short 
distance below the dry surface. 

The only portion of the territory that possesses any peculiar 
value for agricultural purposes, is the eastern district, extend- 
ing from the northern to the southern boundary, and varying 
from one hundred to two hundred miles westward from the 
Missouri line. This district is remarkable for the exquisite 
beauty of its scenery, and the unrivalled fertility of its soil. 
It is a high rolling prairie, covered in the summer months 
with tall grass, sprinkled with an immense variety of beautiful 
flowers, and over which the eye has an unbroken prospect for 
many miles in extent. 

The soil is a rich black loam, several feet deep, with a po- 
rous clay subsoil, resting upon a limestone basis, and is capa- 
ble of producing hemp, maize, wheat, and all the grains, vege- 
tables and fruits common to temperate regions, in" vast 
abundance and in great perfection. 

Timber is confined exclusively to the margins of the nume- 
rous rivers and creeks, along the smaller of which it consists 
chiefly of stunted oaks, cotton-wood, &c., insignificant in 
quantity and of but little value. But the banks of the Kan- 
sas, Osage, Arkansas, Wakarusa, and other of the more im- 
portant streams, are lined with wide strips of forest, embra- 
cing large quantities of heavy and valuable timber, among 
which are found white and black oak, walnut, hickory, elm, 
ash, sycamore, maple, cotton-wood, and other useful varieties. 

There is an abundance of excellent stone for building pur- 
poses in all this region, and good coal is said to be plentiful. 

The only game worth naming is the prairie-fowl or grouse, 
and this is not so abundant as in Illinois. But few fish are 
found in the streams, the varieties being chiefly the bufi'alo 
and catfish, the latter attaining an enormous size, and, like 
those of the Mississippi River, scarcely fit for food. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. 15 

The country west of this district, for a number of miles, is 
well described in a letter dated December 27th, 1856, ad- 
dressed to Governor Geary by Lieutenant Francis T. Bryan, 
of the United States corps of Engineers, and furnishing an 
account of a journey he had just completed. 

^^ My route,'' he says, '^ can easily be followed on the map 
accompanying Stansbury's report, or, indeed, any other relia- 
ble map of the Territory. Leaving Fort Riley, I went up the 
Republican River for one hundred and five miles. This val- 
ley is fertile, and is cut by many creeks, with wooded banks. 
Out of the valley, or bottom of the river, the country is high 
and covered with short buffalo grass. The stone of the 
country is limestone. 

" Leaving the Republican, the route led over the high prai- 
rie thirty-five miles to the Little Blue River, crossing several 
small creeks, with wooded banks. This country, I think, 
would be too dry for "agricultural purposes. Crossing the 
Little Blue, the route lies along its banks for about fifteen 
miles, and then leaving the river, goes to the Platte, touching 
several water holes. From the point where the road first 
touches the Platte to Fort Kearney, is about fifteen miles, and 
along the valley of the Platte. The distance from Fort Riley 
to Fort Kearney we made one hundred and ninety-three 
miles. 

'^ From Fort Kearney the route lay along the valley of the 
Platte for about two hundred miles. This valley is too well 
known to need any description. There is little or no wood, 
and the soil is sandy. Any attempt at agriculture, I think, 
would prove a failure. 

^' Crossing the South Platte below the mouth of Pole Creek, 
we followed the creek to its head in the Black Hills. The 
country is generally high, grass mostly short, and no wood for 
most of the distance. Buffalo chips are used for fuel. Pole 
Creek breaks through two ranges of hills, which we called Pine 
Bluffs and Cedar Bluffs. These are the only points where 
wood can be obtained along the creek until the Black Hills 
are reached. Grass can be found in spots. 

'^ The route then crossed the Black Hills, where was plenty 
of fuel and water, but very little grass. Leaving these hills, 
we found ourselves in the Plains of Laramie, and crossed the 
east branch of the Laramie River at about five miles from the 
foot of the hills. About four miles further appears the fii*st 



16 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

fork of Laramie River. Botli of these streams have good 
water and good grass, but little fuel. 

'^ We then struck the emigrant road near the Medicine Bow 
Mountains, and followed it to the crossing of the South Platte, 
having wood, water and grass at convenient distances. The 
road is over a gravelly soil, and is generally very good and 
hard. Hard stone, such as granites, &c., is found in these 
parts. 

'^ Crossing the South Platte, we struck for the head of Sage 
Creek, over a most barren and desolate-looking country. Very 
little fuel or grass. Water was in abundance, and small 
patches of grass and clumps of trees were found in the hills. 
Coal was found on the South Platte, a few miles from where 
we crossed it, and in a situation where it could easily be 
worked. 

^^ Buffaloes were seen in large numbers, from the Republi- 
can over to the Platte, and for some days up the Platte. Then 
the game consisted almost entirely of deer. In the Black 
Hills, and through the Plains of Laramie, antelopes, wolves, 
and elks were seen and killed, besides prairie dogs, hares, sage 
chickens, &c. 

'^ The country through which we had passed on the outward 
route, was, with little exception, sterile, being too high, dry and 
stony to possess much value in an agricultural point of view. 
Along the creeks were some small strips of wood land. 

'' The return route was over the same country as the out- 
ward route until we reached the east fork of the Laramie 
River. Then turning to the south we followed the Cache-la- 
Paudre to its mouth in the South Platte, passing over several 
very pretty valleys, and having plenty of wood and grass. Fol- 
lowing down the South Platte for several days, we came to where 
the river turns to go north. The country is the same as else- 
where on the Platte. Then sixty miles across a barren region 
of land and hills, with little water or grass, to a creek emptying 
into the Republican. For the first one hundred miles down 
the Republican the country is barren and sandy, with little 
wood. It then improves. The soil is better, and there are 
numerous creeks with wooded banks. The river bottom is of 
good soil, and furnishes excellent grass in large quantity, which 
affords pasturage to immense numbers of buffaloes. This kind 
of country continues on to Fort Riley. 

^' Along the main streams of the Platte, Republican, and 
Solomon's Fork; the wood is almost entirely cotton-wood. On 



DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. 17 , 

the creeks which empty into them, it is generally hard wood, 
such as ash, elm, walnut, &c. On the Solomon's Fork, the soil 
of the bottom land appears even better than that on the Re- 
publican, and the wooded creeks quite as numerous. These 
bottoms are very wide in places, and covered with excellent 
grass. Buffaloes and elk are found in this region also, and iu 
great numbers. 

^^I have thus given you a hasty view of the country over 
which we have passed. That along the lower part of the Re- 
publican and Solomon's Fork appears to be by far the best that 
we saw, though there are some very pretty spots on the creeks 
in the mountains; but there is no good land in large bodies in 
that region.'' 

The section beyond that travelled by Lieut. Bryan, embra- 
cing the space between the Black Hills and the main chain of 
the Rocky Mountains, is thus described by another writer : — 

^^ Here nature has presented us with every variety and aspect 
of soil. There are stupendous mountains, the grandeur and 
sublimity of which create mingled emotions of awe and terror. 
There are beautiful valleys, embosomed by amphitheatres of 
hills, where Calypso and her nymphs might have delighted to 
ramble, variegated by hill and dale, traversed by sparkling 
rivulets, and adorned with placid lakes. Fruits and flowers 
spangle the green sward ] vines hang in festoons from tree to 
tree ; cascades spring in rainbow hues from the cliffs ; pines and 
cedars, the growth of ages, spread their sombre shade upon the 
mountain sides, and the stupendous peaks, shooting up into the 
skies, are crowned with a glittering coronet of snow. 

" A few hours' travel leads us out of this scene of primeval 
beauty into one in intense contrast with it. Here we find a 
sterile expanse of many miles in extent, covered with waving 
lines of sand, producing only stunted artemesia and a few other 
miserable plants. The rivulets are lost as they descend from 
the bare ridges around ; their hollow murmurs may be heard 
beneath the feet; and the surrounding peaks are immense 
piles of bare granite, which seem to have been thrown by some 
great convulsion into inextricable confusion." 

The climate is not so agreeable as in the same latitudes 
nearer the Atlantic sea-board. It is dry and variable. The 
changes of weather are frequent, sudden, and severe, the 
thermometer not unfrequently rising and falling thirty or forty 
degrees in a few hours. This is specially the case during the 
2* B 



18 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

winter season. High winds are very prevalent, sweeping 
fiercely and almost daily over the unbroken prairies. 

Along the banks of the rivers and smaller streams, the only 
places where settlements to any extent have yet been made, 
bilious and intermittent fevers are as common as in more 
southern latitudes on the Mississippi River. The progress of 
agriculture will not improve the condition of the country in 
this regard, as an unhealthy miasma must necessarily arise 
from turning under to any great extent the heavy sod, and ex- 
posing the rich soil to the atmosphere and the rays of the sun. 
This will in a measure be counterbalanced by the erection of 
more substantial and suitable habitations for the people, the 
supply of a greater variety of wholesome food, and other sources 
and means of health and comfort. To the want of these, as 
well as to the unsteady habits of a large portion of the popu- 
lation, may justly be attributed much of the sickness that has 
heretofore prevailed. 



CHAPTER II. 

Discovery and early exploration of Kansas. — The Indians of the Terri- 
tory. — Their reserves. — The Shawnee Mission. 

The discovery of the valley of the Missouri is said to have 
been made by Father Marquette, a French missionary, about 
the year 1673 ; and that portion of the country now embraced 
in the Territory of Kansas, appears to have first been explored 
by M. Dutisne, a French ofiicer, sent by his government for 
that purpose, in 1719. At that time it was claimed as part of 
the empire of Louis XI Y. In 1762, it was ceded by France 
to Spain, and thus passed under the dominion of the Spanish 
crown; but subsequently, (in 1800,) it was ceded back to 
France. In 1801 it came into the possession of the United 
States, through the negotiation of Thomas Jefferson, by which, 
for fifteen millions of dollars, he purchased all the western 
territory belonging to the French government. 

When first discovered to the civilized world, and until 
within a very few years, the Territory of Kansas was occupied 
«olely by a few roving tribes of Indians, whose subsistence 
Was obtained by hunting. There were no civilized residents, 



INDIAN RESERVES. 19 

in fact, until about the time of its orgaDization, except the 
few Christian missionaries who went there to convert the 
Indians ; the soldiers by whom the forts were garrisoned ; the 
fur traders; and such of the Indians who had mingled with 
the white people in other districts^ or were connected with the 
missions. 

No use was made of this country by the government, until, 
it becoming necessary to remove the Indian tribes occupying 
districts where the progress of civilization rendered it inex- 
pedient for them to remain, some of its best lands were granted 
to them by treaty, upon which they settled, and have since 
possessed. These tribes are the Shawnees, Delawares, Po- 
tawattomies, Wyandots, Kickapoos, Ottowas, Chippewas, Sacks 
and Foxes, Peorias and Kaskaskias, Weas and Piankshaws. 

The immense tracts of land appropriated to the use of these 
Indians, were, at the time the treaties were severally made, 
considered of little importance ; but the great flood of civilized 
emigration that has steadily been pouring westward, has so 
increased their value as to render their owners the wealthiest, 
though the most miserable population in the world. 

The reservation of the Wyandots, but few in number, was 
purchased from the Delawares, and is, perhaps, the most 
eligible and valuable in the Territory. It is the fork at the 
confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers. It extends 
six miles from the mouth of the Kansas, and embraces twenty- 
three thousand, nine hundred and sixty acres. The towns of 
Wyandot and Quindaro, both of which promise to be of some 
importance, are upon this reserve. The shares in these towns 
have recently attracted the attention of speculators, and have 
reached and obtained almost fabulous prices. A Wyandot 
Indian, (half breed,) named Walker, is at the head of this 
speculative movement, and was a member of the late Legisla- 
tive Assembly of Kansas. He is a shrewd and intelligent 
man, and will make the most of his opportunities to acquire a 
princely fortune. 

Immediately above the Wyandot begins the Delaware re- 
serve. It stretches along the north side of the Kansas River 
westward forty miles, and to an equal or greater distance noith- 
ward on the Missouri. It is a beautiful tract of prairie and 
woodland, and lies in a position to give it eminent advantages 
and make it especially valuable. Leavenworth City is built 
upon this reservation, the entire northern portion of which 
has for some time been covered with squatters, in violation of 



20 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

the Indian treaty, and in despite of a protest issued by the 
chiefs of the tribe. The whole of this large reserve, however, 
was sold in November, 1856, agreeably to a treaty made with 
the Delawares on the 6th of May, 1854, except a strip on the 
north side of the Kansas River, forty miles long and ten miles 
wide. According to the Proclamation of the President, the 
lots were to have been sold at public auction to the highest 
bidder, after having been appraised by appointed commis- 
sioners, none of them to be disposed of, however, at prices 
lower than were fixed by the appraisement. But at a meeting 
of the squatters, it was resolved that no competition should 
be permitted at the sales ; that each man should be allowed 
to purchase his own claim at the appraised value ; and to 
commit violence upon those who should attempt to bid against 
him. This arrangement was mutually agreed to by the auc- 
tioneer, the Indian agent, the settlers, and the speculators, 
many of whom had assembled from distant parts, at Fort 
Leavenworth, where the sales were conducted. It was argued 
that the settlers having improved the lands and thus enhanced 
their value, the government would do them injustice by 
allowing others to purchase, and thus deprive them of the 
money and labor they had bestowed upon their claims. The 
proper reply was, that they had violated a treaty of the go- 
vernment with the Indians, in making those settlements and 
improvements, and instead of being rewarded were deserving 
of punishment for that act. But then, again, the government 
had neglected its duty in not driving these squatters from 
their settlements before the improvements were made. Jn 
allowing them to remain their right was virtually acknowledged. 
At all events, the lands were sold j squatter sovereignty pre- 
vailed; and the Indians received more money for their pos- 
sessions than the}' had any reason to expect, quite as much as 
they deserved, and too much for their own best interests. 
The balance of this reserve is now covered with squatters, 
some of them having staked out and laid claims to entire 
sections, and the same policy is being pursued toward it as 
that which governed the trust lands that were sold. 

The half-breed Kaws, of whom there are but several, own 
a tract of heavy woodland, equal in value to any in the ter- 
ritory, directly west of the Delaware reserve on the north side 
of the Kansas Biver. This is the tract, for speculating in 
which, Governor Beeder and Judges Elmore and Johnson 
were ostensibly removed from office ; though it is alleged in 



SQUATTER SOVEREIGNTY. 21 

some quarters, that there were stronger reasons than his desire 
to purchase a few acres of Indian lands, that actuated the 
powers at Washington in this measure, so far as the governor 
yras concerned. This reserve, Yike every other in the terri- 
tory, is now covered with squatters who are making fortunes 
by cutting the fine timber fcr the neighboring saw-mills, and 
are unmolested by the Indian agents. 

The Potawattomie reserve is a spacious tract west of the 
Kaws, and lying on both sides of the Kansas River. This 
reserve is also taken up by settlers, who, without being dis- 
turbed by the government agents, are making the best of 
their time by cutting the timber for fuel and building pur- 
poses. 

Just south of the northern line of Kansas, on the Missouri 
River, there is a reservation for the lowas, another for the 
Sacks and Foxes from Missouri, and a colony of half-breeds. 
The Sacks and Foxes from the Upper Mississippi are located 
on the Osage River. These reserves are small, and the tribes 
number but few families. 

The land assigned to the Kickapoos is a fine tract of prrii- 
rie country, of about twelve hundred square miles, westward 
and northward of the Delaware reservation and south of the 
small tribes above named. 

The Shawnees is the most important tribe in the territory. 
They are more numerous and farther advanced than any othei*s 
in civilization. Their reserve is one of the most fertile tracts 
of land, chiefly prairie, in Kansas. It is well watered with 
several considerable streams and has an abundance of excel- 
lent timber. It lies on the Missouri border south of the 
Kansas River, and covers a space of country equal in extent 
to about fifty miles square. While the late legislature were 
making arrangements for the passage of a law to take the 
census of Kansas preparatory to an election for delegates to 
form a State Constitution, about three thousand citizens of 
Missouri, partly to seize upon the Indian lands, and partly to 
be registered as voters to carry out the object of the contem- 
plated act, were rushing across the border and staking out 
claims upon this reservation. On ever}- quarter section they 
laid what they call a ''foundation/^ This is done by placing 
four poles upon the ground in the form of a square. In order 
to conform as they supposed, more fully to the letter, if not 
the spirit of the pre-emption law.s, some of these ingenious 
squatters, also '^roofed in" their '^foundations." This w^ 



22 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

accomplislied by standing a pole upright in the centre of the 
square and nailing to the top of it a half-dozen shingles to re- 
present a roof. In looking at these singular creations, it is 
difficult to determine which most to admire, the ingenuity or 
the dishonesty which could prompt men to resort to such mis- 
erable pretexts to avail themselves unjustly of the benefit of a 
law, the true meaning and intent of which is too clearly and 
definitely expressed to be misunderstood. Having laid their 
foundations and shingled their houses, and thus established 
their claims, agreeably, as they pretend, to the requirements 
of the pre-emption laws, to lands granted by solemn treaty to 
the Indians, and having registered their names as citizens and 
legal voters, these worthy squatters returned to their Missouri 
homes, to await the election day, and then come back to exer- 
cise the freeman's right of suffrage and stultify the votes of 
actual and honest settlers. Should the lauds be opened for 
pre-emption and settlement by treaty with the Shawnees, as 
is anticipated, the claims made upon these shallow pretexts, 
will be maintained with pistol and bowie-knife, against any 
who may dare to question their legality. Such is squatter 
sovereignty as understood and practised on the western bor- 
ders of Missouri. 

On this reservation, near Westport, Mo., stands the ^^ Shaw- 
nee Mission'' of the Methodist Church South. Three sections 
of their best lands were granted by the Shawnees to this mis- 
sion, which are handsomely fenced in, partly with stone, and 
upon which are erected several substantial and capacious brick 
buildings, all of which has been accomplished by government 
funds and per centages on Indian annuities. Two sections of 
the three comprising this elegant farm, which is better 
improved and more profitably cultivated than any in the terri- 
tory, has, by skilful management on his part, become the pro- 
perty of Rev. Thomas Johnson, the head of the church, and 
late President of the Council of the Legislative Assembly. 

Although there are shades of difference in the moral condi- 
tion and industrial habits of the Indians in Ka^nsas, there are 
very few of them, who are likely to profit materially hy the 
arts of civilization. It is an exception to the general rule 
when a full blooded Indian is found to possess any admirable 
traits of character. Neither education nor Christianity seems 
to make any marked improvement in his habits or deportment. 
He is improvident, inhospitable and treacherous, with just 
industry and energy enough to keep himself from star^^ation, 



INDIAN CHARACTER AND DESTINY. 23 

but not enough to pay any proper regard to personal cleanli- 
ness. Yet it is no uncommon thing to hear white men boast 
of the possession of Indian blood. "What peculiar enviable 
quality it is supposed to impart it would be difficult to deter- 
mine. An anecdote is told of a certain judge, the head of one 
of the ^^ first families in Virginia/' who was exceedingly proud 
of his Indian origin. He was haughty, vain, tyrannical and 
somewhat celebrated for his ill manners. In conversation 
with a gentleman, who happened to make a remark that dis- 
pleased him, the judge insolently replied : ^^ I suppose, sir, 
you do not know that I have Indian blood in my veins ?" 
^*No sir,^' was the answer, "I did not know it, but I would 
judge so from your behaviour I" 

The destiny of the Indian races, is so plainly written that 
it can easily be read. The idea that they can live among and 
mingle with white people, acquire their habits and adopt their 
customs, is not entertained by any who understand their cha- 
racter. They will readily learn and imitate all the evil prac- 
tices of civilized life, but they generally fail to profit by those 
which are good. 

The recent treaties with the different tribes, are intended to 
give to each individual of each tribe his own quota of land, 
and not again to attempt their removal to a distant locality. 
The land thus acquired, they are too indolent to cultivate. 
It will soon pass into the hands of the crafty and grasping 
white man, and the proceeds be squandered in the purchase 
of bad whiskey. If sloth, and filth, and drunkenness fail to 
kill them, they must leave the white man's settlements, and 
wander, (who can tell where ?) fugitives and vagabonds upon 
the face of the earth. x\nother centuiy will not have passed, 
when the Indians of America will have an existence only on 
the pages of history. 



24 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 



CHAPTER III. 

Application of Missouri for admission into the Union. — The restriction 
and compromise bills of 1818-19-20. — Debates on the Kansas- Nebraska 
Bill. — The Organic Act of Kansas Territory. 

The inliabitants of Missouri being desirous of admission 
into the Union, a bill for that purpose was introduced into 
Congress in the session of 1818-19. In consequence of Mr. 
Taylor, of New York, having introduced into it what was then 
called "the Restriction,'' providing that involuntary slavery 
should not exist in the proposed new State, the bill, after 
having passed in the House of Representatives, was lost in the 
Senate. 

After the adjournment of Congress, the " restriction'' be- 
came a question of very general public interest. It was liber- 
ally discussed in the leading journals, and speeches in relation 
to it were delivered to large assemblies by some of the most 
prominent men of the country. 

It was revived in Congress at its next session, which met 
on the 7th December, 1819, and debated in both Houses for 
a great length of time with a bitterness of feeling on both 
sides which exceeded anything that had ever been known in 
the national councils. 

At length a " compromise'' was proposed by Mr. Thomas, 
of Illinois, fixing the line of 36° 30' as the future boundary 
between free and slave States. This, at first, met with little 
better favor in certain quarters than the absolute " restriction," 
and was discussed with quite as much spirit and rancor. It 
finally, however, passed both Houses, and after being sub- 
mitted by President Monroe to all the members of his Cabinet 
to ascertain their opinions in regard to its constitutionality, it 
received his signature and became a law on the 6th of March, 
1820. 

The distinguishing feature of this bill is embraced in the 
following section : 

"Sect. 8. And be it further enacted. That in all that territory ceded 
by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which 
lies north of 36° 30'' north, not within the limits of the state 
contemplated by this act, slavery nnd involuntary servitude, otherwise 
than in the punishment of crime, whereof the parties shall have been 
duly convicted, shall be and hereby is, forever prohibited." 



ORGANIC ACT. 25 

It was generally supposed that by tlie passage of this act 
the question of slavery extension in the United States was 
forever set at rest. But on the 7th of June, 1836, a bill was 
passed, without opposition, ceding to Missouri a triangular 
piece of land between the Missouri River and the west line of 
the State. By the '' compromise,^' this tract, lying north of 
36° 30', was, with all other portions of the Territories, to be 
forever free from slavery ; but from the period of it.s cession 
to Missouri until the present time, slaves have been introduced 
and held therein. 

At the session of Congress for 1853-'4, a bill was intro- 
duced which provided that all that part of the territory of the 
United States included between the summit of the Bocky 
Mountains on the west, the States of Missouri and Iowa on 
the east, the 43° 30' north latitude on the north, and the 
Territory of New Mexico and the parallel of 36° 30' north 
latitude on the south, should be organized into a temporary 
government by the name of the Territory of Nebraska. 

This bill was introduced to the Senate by Mr. Dodge, of 
Iowa, on the 14th of December, 1853, and referred to the 
Committee on ^Territories, and on the 4th of January follow- 
ing was reported back by Mr. Douglas, of Illinois, chairman 
of the committee, with sundry important amendments; and 
subsequently the same gentleman introduced a substitute for 
the original bill, which provided for the creation of two ter-. 
ritories — Kansas and Nebraska — and repealed or abrogated 
the compromise of 1820 respecting the extension of slavery. 

The debates upon this bill were even more strong, if 
possible, than those which resulted in the passage of the com- 
promise act. Nor was the interest excited confined to Wash- 
ington. The whole country was awakened to the importance 
of the measure proposed, and public meetings were held in 
various localities either for its approval or condemnation. 
Speeches especially characterized by the violence of their de- 
nunciations were delivered; the press teemed with partisan 
maledictions ; and addresses and petitions were forwarded to 
Congress to influence its action. In both Houses the discus- 
sion was carried on with a vehemence and passion rarely ex- 
hibited in a deliberative body. 

Several amendments were made to the substitute of Mr. 
Douglas before its final passage on the 25th of May, 1854. 
It received the signature of President Pierce on the 30th of 
3 



26 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

the same month. The most important part of this act, so far 
as it relates to the Territory of Kansas, is as follows : 

** Sect. 19. And be it further enacted, That all that part of the 
territory of the United States included within the following limits, 
except such portions thereof as are hereinafter expressly exempted 
from the operations of this act, to wit, beginning at a point on the 
western boundary of the state of Missouri, where the thirty- seventh 
parallel of north latitude crosses the same ; thence west on said 
parallel t^ the eastern boundary of New Mexico; thence north on 
said boundary to latitude thirty-eight ; thence following said boundary 
westward to the east boundary of the Territory of Utah, on the summit 
of the Rocky Mountains ; thence northward on said summit to the 
fortieth parallel of latitude ; thence east on said parallel to the western 
boundary of the state of Missouri ; thence south with the western 
boundary of said state to the place of beginning, be, and the same 
is, hereby created into a temporary government by the name of the 
Territory of Kansas ; and when admitted as a state or states, the 
said territory, or any portion of the same, shall be received into the 
Union with or without slavery, as their constitution may prescribe at 
the time of their admission : Provided, That nothing in this act 
contained shall be construed to inhibit the government of the United 
States from dividing said territorj^ into two or more territories, in such 
manner and at such times as Congress shall deem convenient and 
proper, or from attaching any portion of said territory to any other 
state or territory of the United States: Provided further, That nothing 
in this act contained shall be construed to impair the rights of persons 
or property now pertaining to the Indians in said territory, so long - 
as such rights shall remain unextinguished by treaty between the 
United States and such Indians, or to include any territory which, by 
treaty with any Indian tribe, is not, without the consent of said tribe, 
to be included within the territorial limits or jurisdiction of any state 
or territory ; but all such territory shall be excepted out of the 
boundaries, and constitute no part of the Territory of Kansas, until 
said tribe shall signify their assent to the President of the United 
States to be included within the said Territory of Kansas, or to affect 
the authority of the government of the United States to make any 
regulation respecting such Indians, their lands, property, or other 
rights, by treaty, law, or otherwise, which it would have been 
competent to the government to make if this act had never passed." 

*' Sect. 32. And be it further enacted, That a delegate to the House 
of Representatives of the United States, to serve for the term of two 
years, who shall be a citizen of the United States, may be elected by 
the voters qualified to elect members of the legislative assembly, who 
shall be entitled to the same rights and privileges as are exercised 
and enjoyed by the delegates from the several other territories of the 
United States to the said House of Representatives, but the delegate 
first elected shall hold his seat only during the term of the Congress 
to which he shall be elected. The first election shall be held at such 
time and places, and be conducted in such manner as the governor 
shall appoint and direct ; and at all subsequent elections the times. 



THE ORGANIC ACT A COMPROMISE. 27 

places, and manner of holding the elections, shall be prescribed by 
law. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be 
declared by the governor to be duly elected : and a certificate thereof 
shall be given accordingly. That the constitution and all laws of the 
United States which are not locally inapplicable, shall have the same 
force and effect within the said Territory of Kansas as elsewhere 
within the United States, except the eighth section of the act 
preparatory to the admission of Missouri into the Union, approved 
March sixth, eighteen hundred and twenty, which being inconsistent 
with the principles of non-intervention by Congress with slavery in 
the states and territories, as recognised by the legislation of eighteen 
hundred and fifty, commonly called the compromise measures, is 
hereby declared inoperative and void; it being the true intent and 
meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any territory or state, 
nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly 
free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own 
way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States: Provided^ 
That nothing herein contained shall be construed to revive or put in 
force any law or regulation which may have existed prior to the act 
of sixth March, eighteen hundred and twenty, either protecting, 
establishing, prohibiting or abolishing slavery." 



CHAPTER IV. 

The organic act a compromise measure. — Kansas intended for a slave 
state. — Conduct of the pro-slavery party. — Persecutions of free-state 
people. — Xew England Emigrant Aid Societies. — Public meetings. — 
Blue Lodges. — Invasion from Westport. — Arrival of Governor Reeder. — ► 
Judges of the Supreme Court. 

The repeal of the compromise bill of 1820 by tlie passage 
of the Kansas-Nebraska act of 1854, was, of itself, though not 
so specified or implied, a sort of compromise measure. The 
original act as has been stated, provided for the organization 
of a single territory, to be called Nebraska, which was to em- 
brace all that section of country which now constitutes the 
Territory of Kansas. The locality of the greater portion of 
Nebraska as thus designed ; its ready access to immigration 
from the north; and its peculiar adaptation as respects both 
climate and soil, to free labor, rendered it certain of being re- 
ceived into the Union at an early day as a free State. The 
southern politicians could not wisely and openly object to its 
organization upon this ground. Hence a more judicious policy, 
as it was less likely to meet with determined opposition and 



28 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

condemnation, was adopted. The substitute of Mr. DougJas, 
though it could not prevent the erection of a new free state, 
would at least so far keep up the equality as also to create 
another state, into which slavery would be introduced. By the 
proposition to erect two new territories instead of one, as at 
first proposed, and to allow the inhabitants of each to deter- 
mine for themselves whether slavery should or should not be 
admitted, it was intended and so understood, that Nebraska 
should become a free and Kansas a slave state. This was, 
beyond all question, the object and meaning of the Kansas- 
Nebraska bill of Mr. Douglas, and it was so regarded, as all its 
acts show, by the late administration. This, in fact, is the 
only excuse, although by no means a sufficient one, that can be 
offered in extenuation of the outrages that have subsequently 
been committed against free-state settlers. Many members 
of the pro-slavery party, believing it to have been a matter 
understood and fixed by certain contracting powers and the 
heads of the general government, that Kansas was to become 
a slave state, in order to keep up an equilibrium of northern 
and southern sectional and political interests, conscientiously 
supposed that instead of its being a criminal offence, it was 
not only justifiable, but a virtue, to persecute, even to death, 
all northern people who should enter the territory with a dis- 
position to defeat or thwart that object. All such were regarded 
as intruders, whom it was proper to remove at all hazards and 
by whatever means, however cruel or oppressive, that could 
be employed. This sentiment was not confined to Kansas and 
the adjoining State of Missouri, but was entertained by persons 
high in authority elsewhere, and especially at the seat of the 
federal government. By many it was freely acknowledged 
and boldly advocated. On the other hand, there were many 
northern men who regarded the Kansas-Nebraska act as an 
infamous scheme to violate a sacred compact, and to perpetuate 
and extend, in opposition to every honorable principle, an insti- 
tution which they view with horror and detestation. 

No sooner was the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska act made 
known than great numbers of the residents of Missouri crossed 
into the new territory, seized upon its best lands, not respect- 
ing the rights of the Indians to their reservations, and availing 
themselves of the squatter sovereignty clause of the act, com- 
menced laying foundations for the permanent establishment 
of slavery. 

The reputed value of the lands and salubrity of the climate, 



THE BLUE LODaES 29 

also directed tlie attention of many eastern and northern people 
towards Kansas, and a large emigration from those regions 
commenced at an early day. To facilitate this, ^' Emigrant Aid 
Societies'^ were established, and under their auspices compa- 
nies were formed, the first of which numbering about thirty 
persons, arrived in the territory on the first of August, 1854, 
and settled at what is now the town of Lawrence. Other 
parties arrived soon after, and located themselves in that and 
other neighborhoods. 

The pro-slavery party fancied it saw in the immigration of 
these large northern companies serious cause to apprehend the 
defeat of a measure that had occasioned great anxiety; been 
attended with many difficulties ; which was of such momen- 
tous importance; and until now gave promise of certain and 
ultimate success. It therefore resolved, as a matter of safety 
and interest, not only to disperse those who had already entered 
the territory, but to prevent if possible, the admission*of all 
others of similar character. To this end meetings were held in 
various parts of the territory and in the border towns of Mis- 
souri, at which speeches were made and resolutions adopted of 
the most incendiary and inflammaton,- description. Some of 
these were so exceedingly violent and disgustingly profane, as 
to be unfit for publication. The tenor and spirit of them all 
was, that Kansas must be a slave state ; that abolitionists, 
and this meant all northern men not pledged to favor slavery 
extension, had no right to come there, and that all such should 
be driven from the territory or destroyed. 

At one of these meetings, held at Westport, Mo., in July, 
1854, an association was formed, which adopted the following 
resolutions : — 

^''Resolved, That this association -will, whenever called upon by any 
of the citizens of Kansas Territory, hold itself in readiness together to 
assist to remove any and all emigrants who go there under the 
auspices of the northern emigrant aid societies. 

^^ Resolved. That we recommend to the citizens of other counties, 
particularly those bordering on Kansas Territory, to adopt regulations 
fiirailar to those of this association, and to indicate their readiness to 
operate in the objects of this first resolution." 

Not content with holding public meetings, to carry out the 
objects specified in these resolutions, secret organizations were 
formed, and signs, grips and passwords were adopted, and the 
members bound together by secret oaths and dreadful penal- 
ties, for that special purpose. In the report of a committee 
3* 



30 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

of Congress, appointed to investigate the Kansas difficulties 
growing out of the elections, the following description is given 
of these secret institutions : — 

** It was known by different names, such ns 'Social Band,* * Friends* 
Society,' 'Blue Lodge,' 'The Sons of the South.' Its members were 
bound together by secret oaths, and they had passwords, signs and 
grips, by which they were known to each other. Penalties were 
imposed for violating the rules and secrets of the order. Written 
minutes were kept of the proceedings of the lodges, and the different 
lodges were connected together by an effective organization. It 
embraced great numbers of the citizens of Missouri, and was 
extended into other slave states and into the territory. Its avowed 
purpose was not only to extend slavery into Kansas, but also into 
other territory of the United States, and to form a union of all tho 
friends of that institution. Its plan of operating was to organize and 
Bend men to vote at the elections in the territory, to collect money to 
pay their expenses, and, if necessary, to protect them in voting. It 
also proposed to induce pro-slavery men to emigrate into the territory, 
to aid and sustain them while there, and to elect none to office but 
those friendly to their views. This dangerous society was controlled 
by men who avowed their purpose to extend slavery into the territory 
at all hazards, and was altogether the most effective instrument in 
organizing the subsequent armed invasions and forays. In its lodges 
in Missouri the affairs of Kansas were discussed, the force necessary 
to control the election was divided into bands, and leaders selected, 
means were collected, and signs and badges were agreed upon. While 
the great body of the actual settlers of the territory were relying 
upon the rights secured to them by the organic law, and had formed 
no organization or combination whatever, even of a party character, 
this conspiracy against their rights was gathering strength in a 
neighboring state, and would have been sufficient at their first election 
to have overpowered them, if they had been united to a man." 

The pro-slavery newspapers also took up the subject, and 
denounced the northern immigrants in the most violent tei-ms 
the English language affords, and called upon Missourians 
and others friendly to the institution of slavery, to drive them 
from the territory, or utterly exterminate them, in case of their 
refusal to leave. 

On the 6th of October, a large body of armed men, in wa- 
gons and on horseback, with grotesque banners and other 
strange devices, came from Westport to Lawrence, to disperse 
the settlers at that place. They demanded that the aboli- 
tionists should take away their tents and be off at short notice, 
or otherwise they would be ^^ wiped out.'' The immigrants 
refused to obey this mandate, but prepared themselves in mar- 
tial array, to protect their property and lives. This was en- 



POLICY OF GOVERNOR REEDER. 81 

tirely unexpected on the part of the invaders. They never 
imagined the possibility of the abolitionists showing fight. So, 
after considerable swaggering, they started back for Missouri, 
threatening, with huge oaths, that they would return in a 
week, with a force sufficiently large to compel submission to 
their requirements. These threats were unheeded ; the set- 
tlers continued to build up their town ; and the invaders did 
not return at the appointed time^,- 

Bands of armed men were "also organized to intercept the 
passage of the Missouri River. These parties entered the 
upward-bound steamboats at Lexington and other Missouri 
landings, and upon finding companies of northern emigrants, 
deprived them of their arms, and, in many instances, com- 
pelled them to go back. These outrages became so frequent 
and intolerant, that the river was virtually closed to all free- 
state travellers, who could only reach Kansas by taking the 
northern land route through Iowa and Nebraska. 

Andrew H. Reeder, Esq., of Pennsylvania, having been 
appointed Governor of Kansas, arrived at Fort Leavenworth 
on the 6th of October, at which time the difficulties between 
the pro-slavery and free-state parties had not yet assumed a 
very serious or dangerous aspect. The governor was imme- 
diately surrounded by voluntary and patriotic advisers. Kan- 
sas has always been blessed with a number of this class of 
persons. By directing and controlling his policy, they were 
determined to be the governors of the governor. If he was 
too independent to submit to their insolent dictation, then all 
the machinery at their command was set in motion to thwaiii 
and embarrass his laudable undertakings. Reeder was a gen- 
tleman of talent and education, of unquestioned intelligence 
and integrity, and a lawyer by profession. He had been a 
life-long Democrat, and had done some service for his party. 
He, however, declined becoming the pliant tool of the faction 
that presumed to dictate his course, preferring to discharge 
the duties he had conscientiously assumed with justice and 
impartiality. This failed, of course, to give satisfaction where 
nothing could satisfy but adherence to the principles and an 
unscrupulous disposition to promote the interests of the slavery 
party, whose influence was not confined to Kansas and Mis- 
souri, but constituted a ^^ power behind the throne'' at Wash- 
ington, even ^^more powerful than the throne itself;'' and 
the consequence was a very brief duration of the governor's 
official existence. 



32 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

At tbe time Eeeder was appointed governor, Samuel Dexter 
Lecompte was chosen Chief Justice, and Rush Elmore and 
Sanders N. Johnson Associate Justices of the Supreme Court 
of the Territory. Judge Lecompte immediately affiliated with 
the most ultra of the pro-slavery men ; declared himself warmly 
attached to their ^^ peculiar institution;'' received their un- 
qualified approbation ; applauded their acts ; addressed their 
meetings } and went quite as far as the most exacting could 
possibly expect or desire. Judge Elmore was a slaveholder, 
and brought his slaves with him into the territory. But he 
was a just and conservative man, disposed to act fairly and 
honorably toward all classes of citizens, and disapproved of many 
of the outrages that were being so wantonly committed against 
the ^^abolitionists.'' His conduct was conciliatory, and he 
sought rather to preserve peace among the citizens than aid in 
promoting contention and strife. Judge Johnson took no part 
whatever in the prevailing disturbances. 

The two latter named gentlemen were removed from office 
at the same time and upon the same pretence as Governor 
Reeder. They were charged with having speculated in the 
half-breed Kaw lands; the charge being founded upon the fact 
that they had stipulated for the purchase of those lands on 
condition of being able to obtain the consent of the govern- 
ment. 

Chief Justice Lecompte is still retained, though he was one 
of the early squatters upon the Delaware Trust Lands, in which 
he now owns a valuable estate near Leavenworth City, and has 
acquired considerable property in sundry pro-slavery towns. 
Lecompton, the capital, received his name as an acknowledg- 
ment of his fidelity, zeal, and devotion to the party by which 
it was founded. 

The places of Judges Elmore and Johnson were filled by 
the appointment of Sterling G. Cato, Esq., of Alabama, and 
J. M. Burrell, Esq., of Pennsylvania. Judge Cato has fol- 
lowed closely in the footsteps of Lecompte. Judge Burrell, 
after remaining a short time in the territory, and becoming 
disgusted with the outrages and official malfeasance, it is sup- 
posed, to which he was compelled to be a witness, without 
having the power to remedy, returned to his home at Greens- 
burg, where he died in October, 1856. Judge Thomas Cun- 
ningham, of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, was appointed his 
successor ; but he, too, after visiting the territory, resigned 
without ever entering upou the duties of his office. 



TERRITORIAL ELECTIONS. 33 



CHAPTER V. 

Elections. — Gen. Whitfield's politics. — Meetings in Misssouri to control the 
Kansas elections. — The Missouri press.— The Lynching of William 
Phillips. — Outrages upon the free-state citizens approved. — Destruction 
of the " Parkeville Luminary .'' 

The first election in the territory was held on the 29th 
November, 1854, and was for a delegate to Congress. There 
were three candidates, viz: a Mr. Flenniken, who came to 
Kansas with Governor Reeder ; Judge J. A. Wakefield, an ac- 
knowledged free-state man ; and General John W. Whitfield, 
an Indian agent, and one of the most ultra of the pro-slavery 
party. 

That no mistake could be made in regard to Whitfield's 
sentiments on the slavery question, he very clearly expressed 
them in a speech made subsequent to the election. It is alleged, 
however, that previous thereto he was less positive. He then 
advocated the doctrine of popular sovereignty, and declared his 
intention to aid the actual settlers to form their own domestic 
institutions in their own way. His sentiments seem to have 
undergone a material change when he uttered the following : 

** We can recognize but two parties in the territory — the pro-slavery 
and the anti-slavery parties. If the citizens of Kansas want to live 
in this community at peace and feel at home, they must become 
pro-slavery men ; but if they want to live with gangs of thieves and 
robbers, they must go with the abolition party. There can be no 
third party — no more than two issues— slavery and no slavery, in 
Kansas Territory." 

At the November election, large parties from Missouri, who 
had entered the territory for that purpose, insisted upon voting, 
and having done so, returned on the same day to their homes. 
Of 2871 votes polled, 1729 were ascertained to be illegal, all 
of which were cast for Whitfield, who was elected. The fol- 
lowing extract in regard to this election, is from the report of 
the Congressional Committee : 

** Thus your committee find that in this, the first election in the 
territory, a very large majority of the votes were cast by citizens of 
the State of Missouri, in violation of the organic law of the territory. 
Of the legal votes cast, Gen. Whitfield received a plurality. The 
settlers took but little interest in the election, not one-half of them 
voting. This may be accounted for from the fact that the settlements 
C 



34 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

"were scattered over a great extent, that the term of the delegate to be 
elected was short, and that the question of free and slave institutions 
was not generally regarded by them as distinctly at issue. Under 
these circumstances, a systematic invasion, from an adjoining state, 
by which large numbers of illegal votes were cast in remote and 
sparse settlements for the avowed purpose of extending slavery into 
the territory, even though it did not change the result of the election, 
was a crime of great magnitude. Its immediate effect was to further 
excite the people of the northern states, induce acts of retaliation, and 
exasperate the actual settlers against their neighbors in Missouri." 

Several weeks previous to this election Gen. B. F. String- 
fellow, Ex- Vice-President David R. Atchison, and other 
prominent citizens of that state, addressed large meetings in 
Missouri, urging the people ^^ to enter every election district 
in Kansas, in defiance of Reeder and his vile myrmidons, and 
vote at the point of the bowie-knife and revolver/' The 
cause, it was urged, demanded it, and ^^ it was enough that 
the slave-holding interest wills it, from which there is no ap- 
peal,'' and if the pro-slavery party should be ^^ defeated, then 
Missouri and the other southern states will have shown them- 
selves recreant to their interests, and will deserve their fate." 

These aggressions upon the rights of the settlers soon led 
to difficulties of a serious character. A retaliatory disposition 
was aroused and scenes of violence and bloodshed became 
quite common. The feelings evinced in certain quarters in 
regard to such disturbances are fully avowed in the following 
paragraph from the Squatter Sovereign, published at Atchi- 
son, by Dr. John H. Stringfellow. 

** Monday of last week a fight came off at Doniphan, K. T., in 
which bowie-knives were used freely. The difficulty arose out of a 
political discussion ; the combatants being a pro-slavery man and a 
free-soiler. Both parties were badly cut, and we are happy to state 
that the free-soiler is in a fair way to peg out, while the pro-slavery 
man is out and ready for another tilt. Kansas is a hard road for 
free-soilers to travel." 

In regard to certain strictures upon Kansas outrages pub- 
lished in New York, the same paper discoursed as follows : — 

" We can tell the impertinent scoundrels of the Tribune that they 
may exhaust an ocean of ink, their Emigrant Aid Societies spend 
their millions and billions, their representatives in Congress spout 
their heretical theories till doomsday, and His Excellency Franklin 
Pierce appoint abolitionist after free-soiler as our Governor, yet we 
will continue to lynch and hang, to tar and feather, and drown every 
white-livered abolitionist who dares to pollute our soil." 



OUTRAGE UPON WILLIAM PHILLIPS. 85 

Governor Reeder called an election for the Legislative As- 
sembly, to be held on the 20th of March, following. At this 
election outrages were committed exceeding in atrocity any- 
thing that had ever transpired in the history of the country. 
Many protests were entered against the returns, which re- 
sulted in the call of an especial election, to be held on the 
22d of May, for several districts, against the evidently fraud- 
ulent returns of which, affidavits and petitions had been 
filed. 

In consequence of this order of the governor, a public 
meeting was held on the 30th of April, at Leavenworth City, 
which was ^^ably and eloquently addressed by Chief Justice 
Lecoinpte, Col. J. N. Burns of Weston, Missouri, and others/' 
At this meeting it was 

'* Resolvedf That the institution of slavery is known and recognised 
in this territory ; that we repel the doctrine that it is a moral and 
political evil, and we turn back with scorn upon its slanderous authors 
the charge of inhumanity; and we' warn all persons not to come to 
our peaceful firesides to slander us, and sow the seeds of discord be- 
tween the master and the servant ; for, as much as we deprecate the 
necessity to which we may be driven, we cannot be responsible for the 
consequences." 

A committee of vigilance, consisting of thirty persons, was 
appointed, whose duty it was to observe and report all such 
persons, as should ^' by the expression of abolition sentiments 
produce a disturbance to the quiet of the citizens, or danger 
to their domestic relations; and all such persons, so offending 
shall be notified, and made to leave the territory. ^^ This com- 
mittee found abundant employment, and was exceedingly ac- 
tive in issuing orders to all free-state men, who should dare to 
express a sentiment adverse to the institution of slavery, to 
quit the territory at a certain specified time, or sufifer the 
penalty of death. Under its edicts many good men were 
driven from their homes, and their wives and children com- 
pelled to flee to distant parts for safety and protection. 

Among those ordered to leave was Mr. William Phillips, a 
lawyer of Leavenworth, who had signed a protest against the 
election in that city. Upon his refusal to go, he was, on the 
17th of May, seized by a band of men chiefly from Missouri, 
who carried him eight miles up the river to Weston, where 
they shaved one half of his head, tarred and feathered him, 
rode him on a rail, and sold him at a mock auction by a negro, 
all of which he bore with manly fortitude and bravery, and 



36 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

then returned to Leavenworth and persisted in remaining, 
notwithstanding his life was constantly threatened and in dan- 
ger. He was subsequently murdered in his own house, by a 
company of /^ law and order ^' men, or ^^territorial militia/' 
under command of Captain Frederick S. Emory, simply for re- 
fusing to leave the town. 

On the 25th of May, just eight days after the perpetration 
of the outrage above narrated, another meeting was held at 
Leavenworth, over which R. R. Rees, a member elect of the 
Council presided. ^^ This meeting,^' the papers say, was also 
'' eloquently addressed by Judge Lecompte,'' after which the 
following resolutions offered by Judge Payne, a member elect 
of the House of Representatives, were unanimously adopted : 

^^ Resolved, That we heartily endorse the action of the committee 
of citizens that shaved, tarred and feathered, rode on a rail, and had 
sold by a negro, William Phillips, the moral perjurer. 

** Resolved, That we return our thanks to the committee for 
faithfully performing the trust enjoined upon them by the pro-slavery 
party. 

^^ Resolved, That the committee be now discharged. 

*' Resolved, That we severely condemn those pro-slavery men who, 
from mercenary motives, are calling upon the pro-slavery party to 
submit without further action. 

^^ Resolved, That, in order to secure peace and harmony to ^ the 
community, we now solemnly declare that the pro-slavery party will 
stand firmly by and carry out the resolutions reported by the committee 
appointed for that purpose on the memorable 30th." 

Meetings were also held in numerous towns in Missouri, to 
approve the proceedings of the invaders at the March elec- 
tion, at which violent addresses were made and denunciatory 
resolutions were passed. The following, adopted at a meetiug 
held in Clay <30un ty, will give an idea of their general 
tenor : — 

** Those who, in our state, would give aid to the abolitionists by 
inducing or assisting them to settle in Kansas, or would throw 
obstacles in the way of our friends, hj false and slanderous misrepre- 
sentations of the acts of those who took part in and contributed to 
the glorious result of the late election in that territory, should be 
driven from amongst us as traitors to their country. 

*' That we regard the efforts of the northern division of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church to establish itself in our state as a 
violation of her plighted faith, and, pledged as its ministers must be to 
the anti-slavery principles of that church, we are forced to regard them 
as enemies to our institutions. We therefore fully concur with our 



DjESTRUCTION OP THE LUMINARY. 37 

friends in Platte county in resolving to permit no person belonging 
to the Northern Methodist Church to preach in our county. 

" That all persons who are subscribers to papers in the, least 
tinctured with free-soilism or abolitionism, are requested to discon- 
tinue them immediately." 

The Missouri press was extremely yituperative against all 
who dared to condemn the course pursued in regard to the 
Kansas election. The Brunswicker found fault with a con- 
temporary in the following choice terms : 

** The last Jefferson Inquirer is down on the citizens of Missouri 
who took steps to secure the election of pro-slavery men to the Terri- 
torial Legislature of Kansas. This is in keeping with the Inquirer's 
past conduct. If the editor of that paper had been in Kansas on the 
day of election, he would have voted with the abolitionists. That he 
is a negro-stealer at heart we have no doubt." 

The Platte County Luminary^ was printed at Parke ville, 
Mo., and was owned by Mr. Parke, one of the oldest residents, 
after whom the town was named. After the March election 
this paper ventured to condemn, though in gentle terms, the 
Missouri invasion ; upon which, a few days afterwards, April 
14th, a company was formed at Platte City, and arming them- 
selves for the occasion, marched to Parkeville, broke to pieces 
the press of the Luminary^ and threw it, with all the material 
belonging to the office, into the Missouri River. They also 
seized Mr. Patterson, the editor, Mr. Parke being absent, and 
would have killed him, but for the interference of his wife, a 
young and beautiful woman, who threw herself about his neck, 
to which she clung so firmly that it was difficult to separate 
them. They finally relinquished their intention, released their 
prisoner, and permitted him to leave the place, under the 
penalty of losing his life should he refuse to go or dare to 
return. 



38 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Census returns, February, 1855. — The election of March 30th. — The Legis- 
lative Assembly. 

Governor Eeeder having ordered a census to be taken, 
tlie returns, on the 28th of February, 1855, exhibited a popu- 
lation, exclusive of Indians, of 8,501 souls. There were 5,128 
males, 3,373 females, and 3,4G9 minors. 7,161 were citizens 
of the United States ; 409 of foreign birth ; 242 were slaves, 
and 151 free negroes. There were, at this time, but 2,905 
voters, which number was somewhat increased by immigration, 
before the election for a Legislative Assembly, which took 
place on the 30th of March. 

- This election was controlled almost entirely by citizens of 
Missouri, who came into the territory in large parties, took 
possession of the polls, drove off the regularly appointed 
judges and chose others to answer their own objects, elected 
persons who were not and never had been citizens of Kansas; 
and committed other atrocities, the details of which are abso- 
lutely too disgusting to relate.-^ It is estimated that about 
five thousand Missourians, led on by men claiming respecta- 
bility, and certainly occupying prominent positions, visited 
the territory to take part in this nefarious transaction. The 
following extract is from the report of the Congressional 
Committee : 

<*By an organized movement, which extended from Andrews county 
in the north, to Jasper county in the south, and as far eastward as 
Boone and Cole counties, companies of men were arranged in regular 
' \ parties, and sent into every council district in the territory and into every 
\ representative district but one. The numbers were so distributed as to 
control the election in each district. They went to vote, and with the 
avowed intention to make Kansas a slave state. They were generally 
armed and equipped, carried with them their own provision and tents, 
and so marched into the territory." 

Another paragraph in the same report, which gives a de- 
tailed statement of the outrages committed at this election, 
carefully gathered from the examination of witnesses under 
oath, asserts : 

*' The Missourians began to leave on the afternoon of the day of 
election, though some did not go hom% until the next morning. 



FRAUDULENT ELECTION. 39 

"In many cases, when a wagon-load had voted, they immediately 
started for home. On their way home they said if Governor Reeder 
did not sanction the election they would hang him. 

" This unlawful interference has been continued in every important 
event in the history of the territory. Every election has been con- 
trolled, not by the actual settlers, but by citizens of Missouri ; and, |/ 
as a consequence, every oflScer in the territory, from constables to ] 
legislators, except those appointed by the President, owe their posi- 
tions to non-resident voters." . 

Instead of making any attempt to conceal or deny the 
frauds committed at this election, tlie pro-slavery people of 
Missouri boasted of tlie fact, and maintained they had as 
much right to vote in Kansas according to the terms of the 
Organic Act, having been there but five minutes, as though 
they had been residents for as many years. The press of 
Missouri urged the people to go to Kansas to vote. The 
Liberty, Clay county, paper, contained the following : 

** The election in Kansas Territory is close at hand, and we embrace 
this, the last opportunity we will have before the attempt, of admonish- 
ing Missouri and southerners that it is the part of wisdom as well as 
prudence to employ every means of preparation necessary to a suc- 
cessful combat for the issue which is suspended upon it." 

The Weston Reporter of March 29th (1855), says :— 

*< Our minds are already made up as to the result of the election in 
Kansas to-morrow. The pro-slavery party will be triumphant, we 
presume^ in nearly every precinct. Should the pro-slavery party fail 
in this contest, it will not be because Missouri has failed to do her 
duty to assist friends. It is a safe calculation that two thousand 
squatters have passed over into the promised land from this part of 
the state within four days." 

After the election, the Missouri papers were filled with 
jubilant expressions of victory. The Platte Argus says : ^^ It 
is to be admitted that they — the Missourtans — have conquered 
Kansas. Our advice is, let them hold it or die in the 
attempt/' 

Protests from several of the election districts, numerously 
signed, having been forwarded to the governor, he refused 
issuing certificates to the members whose seats were thus con- 
tested, whereupon an open war was declared upon him by the 
pro-slavery party. A meeting was held at the seat of govern- 
ment at which the right of the governor to call a new election 
was denied, and a resolution passed saying that ^4n the event 
a new election shall be ordered by the governor in any dis- 



40 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

trict, we recommend to every law-abiding and order-loTing 
citizen of Kanzas Territory not to attend said election, but 
rely on the returns already made to sustain the claims of those 
returned heretofore to their seats in each house/' 

The governor^ notwithstanding, did order a new election in 
six of the contested districts, which called forth the fury of 
the Missouri papers. Of the articles published, the following 
from the Brunsioicher is a choice specimen : 

** We learn, just as we go to press, that Reeder has refused to give 
certificates to four of the Councilmen and thirteen members of the 
. , House. He has ordered an election to fill their places on the 22d of 
v\ May. This infernal scoundrel will have to be hemped yet." 



\ 



The pro-slavery party took no interest in the May election, 
having determined not to recognize it, except in the Leaven- 
worth district, where they re-elected their candidates by Missouri 
votes. In all the other districts free-state men were elected. 
But upon the assembling of the Legislature their seats were 
refused them, and given to those elected on the 30th of March. 
There was but one free-state member whose seat could not be 
deprived him upon any pretence whatever, and this he volun- 
tarily resigned, leaving the entire assembly of the same political 
complexion. 

The Kansas Legislative Assembly, elected by Missouri votes, 
convened, agreeably to the order of Governor Reeder, at Paw- 
nee City, near Fort Riley, in the interior of the territory, on 
the 2d of July, 1855. On the 4th, an act was passed to 
remove the seat of government to Shawnee Mission, near the 
Missouri border. This bill was vetoed by Governor Reeder, 
but was subsequently adopted by a two-third majority, and 
became a law. 

This body was in session less than fifty working days ; but 
in looking over the published records of the amount of labor 
it performed, it might be regarded as the most industrious 
legislative assembly that ever had an existence. Besides its 
journals, embracing two good sized duodecimo volumes of seve- 
ral hundred pages, it discussed and adopted laws filling more 
than a thousand octavo pages. How this was accomplished would 
be a mystery to the uninitiated ; for it would have required all 
the time occupied by the meetings to read, at a rapid rate, 
even a part of the enactments ; but the mystery is revealed 
when it is understood that the Missouri code was adopted, 
without the laborious formality of reading, with the simple 



REEDER AND THE KAW LANDS. 41 

instructions to the clerks to substitute the name of ^' Kan- 
sas Territory'' wherever the ^^ State of Missouri" occurred. 
There were, however, some additions made that never 
could have received the sanction of a Missouri Legislature. 
These were test and election laws, so odious that even the 
Kansas officials, corrupt as they were, did not attempt their 
enforcement, and hence remained dead letters upon the statute 
book. The person claiming to be the author of these laws 
says he wrote them when under the evil influence of bad whis- 
key, and that they passed the Houses when the other members 
were in about the same condition as he was when they were 
written and presented. This was as rational an explanation 
as could have been given for their conception and adoption. 

The Legislature adjourned on the 30th of August, having 
fixed the permanent seat of government at Lecompton. This 
was about as inaccessible and inconvenient a place as could 
have been chosen in the territory; but, as it is maliciously 
affirmed, that the members received from the town company 
liberal grants of town lots as the price of their votes, they could 
afford to travel somewhat out of the ordinary way, and suffer a 
few trifling discomforts, especially as the public welfare was 
thus to be promoted. 



CHAPTEK YIL 

Removal of Governor Reeder. — Secretary Woodson. — Assumption of power 
by the Legislature. — Office-holders all pro-slavery men. — Free-state mass 
meetings and conventions. — Elections for delegate to Congress. — Free- 
state Constitution adopted. — Dr. Charles Robinson elected governor. — • 
Meetings of the State Legislature. — Arrest of Robinson and others for 
high treason. — The Topeka Legislature dispersed by Col. Sumner. 

Governor Reeder made a visit to Washington in the spring 

of 1855, leaving Kansas on the 19th of April, to consult with 

the administration on the affairs of the territory. When about 

to take his departure for the west, on the 11th of June following, 

he received a letter from Secretary Marcy, charging him with 

irregular proceedings, in the purchase of Indian lands. The 

governor replied to this letter, after he had again reached 

Kansas, explaining the circumstances in question, and showing 

that the charge had no foundation other than in the fact that 
4 * 



42 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

he was one of a company who had proposed to purchase a por- 
tion of the Kaw lands, provided the sanction of the government 
could be obtained, otherwise the purchase was of no avail. 
Although this pretended speculation was the ostensible ground 
for his removal, of which he received official information on 
the 31st of July, it was evident that other reasons, not made 
public, had influenced the action of the administration. He 
did not please the southern wing of the Democratic party, and 
the leading pro-slavery men clamored for his dismissal. From 
these he had suffered every possible annoyance, even to having 
been assaulted and beaten in his own office by Gen. B. F. 
Stringfellow, for having, as was alleged, spoken unfavorably, 
when in the east, of border ruffianism. The Legislative As- 
sembly also sent a memorial to Washington, preferring charges 
against him, which were not received until after his removal. 
The speculation in the half-breed lands, therefore, while it 
furnished a pretext, was not the real cause for the removal of 
Eeeder. 

The secretary of the territory, Daniel Woodson, was, agreea- 
bly to a provision in the organic law, acting governor, from 
the 31st of July, until Wilson Shannon, the successor to 
Reeder, arrived in the territory on the 1st of September. 
Woodson was all that the pro- slavery party desired. There 
was nothing in which he was not willing and ready to do their 
bidding. He was emphatically a man after their own heart. 
And so well pleased were they with his soundness and pliancy, 
that petitions were forwarded to Washington, to obtain for him 
the appointment of governor. There was no possible reason 
to fear that he would be guilty of the commission of any act 
that would favor the free-state people, or that would not have 
for its chief object the advancement of the pro-slavery cause. 

Previous to the removal of Heeder, the Legislative Assem- 
bly had passed enactments stripping the governor of almost 
every vestige of power, attempting even to deprive him of the 
privileges granted by the organic act. They arrogated to 
themselves the appointment of all the territorial officers, and 
selected none but persons of their own class, and those who 
were known to be of the most ultra character. In this they 
had strictly followed the policy of the administration, all 
whose appointments were of the same description; so that, 
after the removal of Reeder, there was but one man, and he 
the postmaster at Lawrence, who held an office, either under 
the federal government; or by appointment of the legislature, 



ELECTION FOR DELEGATES TO CONGRESS. 43 

or througli tlieir agents^ who was not in favor of introducing 
slavery into tlie territory, and through any means by which 
it could be effected. 

The free-state settlers, believing themselves the subjects of 
a ciiiel persecution; feeling they could not obtain any sympa- 
thy from the general government ; and knowing they might 
look in vain for justice at the hands of the territorial officers, 
held mass meetings and conventions, to discuss with each 
other the subject of their grievances. At one of these meetings, 
a resolution was passed, requesting ^^ all bona fide citizens of 
Kansas Territory, of whatever political views or predilections, 
to consult together, in their respective election districts, ^^ and 
elect 'delegates to assemble in convention, at the town of 
Topeka, on the 19th day of September, 1855, then and there 
to consider and determine upon all subjects of public interest, 
and particularly upon that having reference to the speedy 
formation of a state constitution, with an intention of imme- 
diate application to be admitted as a state into the Union of 
the United States of America. ^^ 

A convention, numerously attended, was held at Big Springs, 
on the 5th of September, at which it was resolved, that the 
Legislative Assembly had been fraudulently elected; ^^that 
its laws had no validity or binding force ; and that every free- 
man was at liberty, consistently with his obligations as a citi- 
zen and a man, to defy and resist them.'^ A resolution was 
also passed denunciatory of the judiciary, for entering ^^ into 
a partisan contest, and, by extra-judicial decision, giving 
opinions in violation of all propriety. ^^ It was further resolved 
to endure and submit to the laws of the spurious legislature 
'^no longer than the best interests of the territory require, as 
the least of two evils ;^' and to ^^ resist them to a bloody issue 
as soon as it could be ascertained that peaceable remedies 
should fail, and forcible resistance furnish any reasonable 
prospect of success ;'^ and, in the mean time, the resolution 
read, '' we recommend to our friends throughout the territory, 
the organization and discipline of volunteer companies, and 
the procurement and preparation of arms.^^ They especially 
repudiated the election law, determined not to meet on the 
day appointed for election, but resolved themselves to ^^ fix 
upon a day for the purpose of electing a delegate to Con- 
gress." 

Agreeably t^ this last resolve, the 9th day of October was 
get apart for the election of a delegate to Congress, at which 



44 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

election Governor Reeder received two thousand eighf hun- 
dred and sixteen free-stat€ votes, the pro-slavery party taking 
no part in the election. This party had already held an elec- 
tion on the first of the month, when Whitfield received over 
three thousand votes, more than eight hundred of them, as 
before, polled by invaders from the neighboring state. The 
free-state people kept away from the polls on that occasion. 

Both Whitfield and Reeder presented themselves in Wash- 
ington, and claimed their seats as delegates. After a careful 
investigation of the circumstances, both were rejected, though 
each received his mileage. 

^ At the same time the free-state election for delegate to 
Congress was held, delegates to form a constitutional conven- 
tion were also elected. This convention assembled at Topeka, 
on the 23d of October, 1855, at which a state constitution 
was adopted, the important feature of which is, that '' slavery 
shall not exist in the state.'' 

This Constitution was submitted to the people for ratifica- 
tion, on the 15th December, 1855, when it received a respect- 
able popular vote. At some of the election districts, disturb- 
ances were created, and at Leavenworth, the poll-books were 
seized and destroyed. But as a general thing, the election 
was permitted to go off even more quietly than could, under 
the agitated condition of the territory, have been reasonably 
expected. 

Just one week after this December election, a caucus meet- 
ing was held in Lawrence to nominate a free-state ticket for 
state officers under the Topeka Constitution. At this meet- 
ing, Dr. Charles Robinson, received the nomination for go- 
vernor, who with the other candidates then nominated, waa 
subsequently elected. 

The newly elected State Legislature, assembled at Topeka 
on the 1st of March, 1856, and proceeded to organize a state 
government. Dr. Robinson took the oath of office and de- 
livered his inaugural address. A committee was appointed to 
frame a code of laws for the future state, during the adjourn- 
ment of the Legislature. Andrew H. Reeder and James H. 
Lane were elected United States Senators, to take their seats 
when the new state should be admitted into the Union. After 
the transaction of this, and other important business, the 
Legislature adjourned until the following 4th of July. 

Sheriff Samuel J. Jones, whose name must necessarily 
figure somewhat in these pages, as a prominent agitator in all 



TOPEKA LEGISLATURE DISPERSED. 45 

the Missouri-Kansas, troubles, was present at the above meet- 
ing, busily employed in taking notes, and especially registering 
the names of the most prominent participants. Through his 
instrumentality, Robinson and others who were active in the 
movement, were subsequently arrested and held in confine- 
ment a period of four months, on the charge of high-treason. 
These men frequently demanded a trial; but the government 
was never ready. At length, Judge Lecompte, hearing that 
James H. Lane was marching with a large army to set them 
at liberty, consented to discharge them upon bail. This will 
be the end of the matter, as it was never any part of the pro- 
gramme to give them a trial. Since the above was written, 
and after the prisoners had been held in bail a period of full 
eight months, the district attorney, as was predicted, entered 
nolle prosequies in their cases, and they were discharged. 

Previous to the 4th of July, threats were freely uttered by 
the pro-slavery party, that the free-state legislature should not 
assemble, at that time, according to its adjournment. Their 
first intention was to disperse the members by an armed force 
of their own people; but they afterwards determined upon a 
wiser and safer couriie of action. In consequence of these 
threats, the free-state men began to assemble at Topeka in 
considerable numbers as early as the 2d of July. Some of 
the most prominent of the party being still in prison, and 
others having been driven from the territory, they were unde- 
cided in regard to the policy best to be pursued. Both 
branches of the State Legislature consequently met in con- 
vention on the evening of July 8d, and resolved to assemble 
in regular session, agreeably to adjournment, at noon on the 
following day. 

In the mean time, a large United States force, under com- 
mand of Col. E. V. Sumner, consisting of seven companies of 
dragoons from Fort Leavenworth, and four companies from 
Fort Riley, had encamped close to Topeka, both to the north 
and the south of the town. Secretary Woodson, who in the 
absence of Shannon, was again acting-governor, accompanied 
the troops, as did also the United States Marshal, Israel B. 
Donalson. 

On the evening of the 2d, a committee of free-state men 
had been appointed to correspond with Col. Sumner, and 
ascertain, if possible, the object of this extraordinary warlike 
demonstration on the part of the United States. On the 3d, 
the committee received from Col. Sumner the following letter ; 



46 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

'* Head Quarters, First Cavalry, 

"Camp at Topeka, K. T., July 3, 185'6. 
"Gentlemen : In relation to the assembling of the Topeka Legisla- 
ture (the subject of our conversation last night), the more I reflect 
on it the more I am convinced that the peace of the country will be 
greatly endangered by your persistence in this measure. Under these 
circumstances I would ask you and your friends to take the matter 
into grave consideration. It will certainly be much better that you 
should act voluntarily in this matter, from a sense of prudence and 
patriotism, at this moment of high excitement througj^out the coun- 
try, than that the authority of the general government should be 
compelled to use coercive measures to prevent the assemblage of 
that Legislature. 

*' I am, gentlemen, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"E. V. Sumner, 
"Col. First Cavalry Commanding." 

Early on the morning of the 4th the convention again as- 
sembled in one of the rooms appropriated to the Jjegislature, 
when they were visited by Marshal Donalson, accompanied by 
ex-judge Elmore, who by request of the marshal, explained 
the object of their errand. He read, among other things, a 
proclamation of President Pierce, issued on the preceding Feb- 
ruary, in which he declared that the laws of the Legislative 
Assembly as adopted at the Shawnee Mission, should be sus- 
tained and enforced by the entire force of the government, and 
concluded by delivering a proclamation to the same effect from 
the secretary of the territory, the acting-governor. 

This ceremony concluded, the marshal and judge took their 
departure. The excitement in the town was intense, and the 
entire population, embracing two volunteer companies, who 
were out on parade, were assembled in and about the legisla- 
tive hall. A short time before the hour appointed for the 
meeting, Colonel Sumner, at the head of about two hundred 
dragoons,. was seen approaching at a rapid rate. Having posted 
two field pieces so as to command the principal avenues, he drew 
his forces up in front of the hall and entered the building ; 
and addressing the people who were there assembled, he in- 
formed them that under the proclamation of the President, he 
had come to disperse the Legislature, which duty, though the 
most painful of his life, he was compelled to perform, even if 
it should demand the employment of all the forces in his com- 
mand. The members present readily consented to obey, his 
orders, and no attempt was made at an organization. The 
colonel was heartily cheered as he left the hall; and when he 
was about marching off at the head of the troops, three groans 



MURDER OF COLLINS. 47 

for Franklin Pierce were given witli such an •ananimity and 
hearty good will by the assembled multitude, as fairly to shake 
the building, startle the horses of the soldiers, and betoken 
anything .but a friendly feeling toward the existing adminis- 
tration. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Kansas Legion. — Patrick Laughlin. — The murder of Collins. — Out- 
rages upon J. W. B. Kelley. — Rev. Pardee Butler set adrift in the Mis- 
souri River on a raft. — Disputes about land claims. — The murder of 
Dow. — Portrait of Sheriff Jones. — Arrest and rescue of Jacob Branson. 

It is not to be presumed that all the outrages and crimes 
committed in Kansas Territory were the work of the pro- 
slavery party. That party will have a terrible catalogue for 
which to account; but in the great day of retribution their 
political opponents will not entirely escape condemnation. 
The pro-slavery men were doubtless the original aggressors; 
but their unworthy example was too eagerly followed by many 
claiming to be the advocates of freedom. The one party 
burned houses, and robbed and murdered unoffending people; 
and the other, in retaliation, committed the same atrocities. 
Buford collected a regiment of men in Alabama, South Caro- 
lina, and Georgia; and Jones, Whitfield and others, bands of 
desperadoes in Missouri, which they brought into Kansas to 
pillage and destroy; whilst Lane marched in his famous 
'^ Army of the North,'' whose path was also marked with 
desolation and ruin. The slavery faction established its 
*' Blue Lodges,'' and their opposers organized their '^ Kansas 
Legion," both of which were secret associations, bound toge- 
ther by solemn oaths, and having signs and pass-words of re- 
cognition. The only difference was, that the largest and most 
respectable portion of the free-state party condemned the 
^^ Kansas Legion," and took no part in its operations; whilst 
the '^ Blue Lodges" originated with, and received their chief 
encouragement and support from the most prominent, wealthy 
and leading pro-slavery men, not only in the territory, but in 
various states of the Union. 

In the summer of 1855, an Irishman, named Patrick 



48 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

LaugMin, who had formerly lived in Missouri, pretended to 
have become a convert to the free-state principles, and was 
received into the fellowship of the ^' Kansas Legion. '^ He 
became a very active member, and was deputized, to open 
encampments in sundry free-state towns. After acquainting 
himself with all the mysteries and thoroughly understanding 
the working of the entire machinery, Patrick returned to the 
pro-slavery party and made an expose of the whole affair, 
telling perhaps all the truth and adding much of his own in- 
vention. He also became an active persecutor of the free-state 
men, towards whom he exhibited the most violent hostility. 
This led to a personal altercation between Laughlin and a 
man named Collins, both of whom resided at Doniphan. 

They met in the vicinity of Collins' saw-mill, where himself, 
sons and nephews were at work, Laughlin having with him 
several friends. All the parties were armed. After a wordy 
quarrel they were about separating, upon which Laughlin 
reiterated some offensive language, and Collins turned toward 
him. One of the pro-slavery men fired, hitting Collins, who 
returned the shot without effect, upon which Laughlin fired 
his pistol at Collins and killed him instantly. A general fight 
then ensued, in which bowie-knives and pistols were freely 
used. Several on both sides were wounded, and Laughlin 
seriously. He was carried to Atchison, and has entirely re- 
covered. This scene occurred on the 25th of October. 

The pro-slavery residents of Atchison had previously re- 
solved to rid that place of all free-state settlers, and accord- 
ingly, on the 8th of August, they seized Mr. J. W. B. Kelley, 
and after having beaten and otherwise abused him, they drove 
him from the town. 

Soon after this occurrence. Rev. Pardee Butler, a preacher 
from Missouri, visited Atchison, and having expressed himself 
rather freely in condemnation of the outrage upon Kelley, he 
was forthwith disposed of in a summary and somewhat novel 
manner. The following is the Squatter SovereigrCs relation 
of this affair : — 

'' On Thursday last one Pardee Butler arrived in town with 
a view of starting for the East, probably for the purpose of 
getting a fresh supply of free-soilers from the penitentiaries 
and pest-holes of the northern states. Finding it incon- 
venient to depart before morning, he took lodgings at the 
hotel, and proceeded to visit numerous portions of our town, 
everywhere avowing himself a free-soiler, and preaching the 



MURDER OF DOW. 49 

foulest of abolition heresies. He declared the recent action 
of our citizens in regard to J. W. B. Kelley, the infamous 
and unlawful proceedings of a mob; at the same time stating 
that many persons in Atchison, who were free-soilers at heart, 
had been intimidated thereby, and feared to avow their true 
sentiments; but that he (Butler) would express his views in 
defiance of the whole community. 

'' On the ensuing morning our townsmen assembled en 
masse, and, deeming the presence of such persons highly 
detrimental to the safety of our slave property, appointed a 
committee of two to wait on Mr. Butler and request his signa- 
ture to the resolutions passed at the late pro-slavery meeting 
'held in Atchison. After perusing the said resolutions, Mr. B. 
positively declined signing them, and was instantly arrested 
by the committee. 

'' After the various plans for his disposal had been consid- 
ered, it was finally decided to place him on a raft composed 
of two logs firmly lashed together ; that his baggage and a 
loaf of bread be given him; and having attached a flag to his 
primitive bark, emblazoned with mottoes indicative of our 
contempt for such characters, Mr. Butler was set adrift in the 
great Slissouri, with the letter R legibly painted on his 
forehead. 

" He was escorted some distance down the river by several 
of our citizens, who, seeing him pass several rock-heaps in 
quite a skilful manner, bade him adieu, and returned to 
Atchison. 

" Such treatment may be expected by all scoundrels visiting 
our town for the purpose of interfering with our time-honored 
institutions, and the same punishment we will be happy to 
award all free-soilers, abolitionists, and their emissaries. '^ 

Butler states that Robert S. Kelley, the junior editor of the 
Squatter Sovereign was one of the most active members of 
the mob that committed this disgraceful act, and that he as- 
sisted to tow the raft out into the stream, where he was set 
adrift, with flags bearing the following strange inscriptions : 
" Eastern Emigrant Aid Express. The Rev. Mr. Butler for 
the Underground Railroad.'' "The way they ^re served in 
Kansas.'' " For Boston." " Cargo insured — unavoidable 
danger of the Missourians and the Missouri River excepted." 
" Let future emissaries from the north beware. Our hemp 
crop is sufficient to reward all such scoundrels." 

Many of the personal rencontres in Kansas, grew out of 
5 D 



50 HISTORY or KANSAS. 

the unsettled condition of affairs in regard to the possession 
of lands. Most of the " claims '^ had been staked out by per- 
sons living in Missouri, who, paying no proper regard to the 
requirements of the pre-emption laws, had no possible right 
to the property they assumed to own. These claims were, be- 
yond all question, legally open for the actual settler. Such 
was the condition of a large tract of valuable woodland, at 
Hickory Point, bordering on the Wakarusa, on the Santa Fe 
road. A free-state man, named Jacob Branson, occupied a 
claim in this vicinity, upon which he was living, was improv- 
ing, and his right to which was not disputed. The adjoining 
claim was vacant, and Branson invited a young man from 
Ohio, named Dow, to take it up, which he did, and com- 
menced making improvements. 

The pro-slavery squatters in the neighborhood determined 
to drive off these free-state settlers, and sent an anonymous 
letter to Branson, filled with threats of violence, and ordering 
him to leave; whilst they maintained that Dow's claim be- 
longed to a William White, of Westport, and persisted in 
cutting timber from it and otherwise annoying Dow, with the 
obvious and avowed purpose of creating a difficulty. Dow at 
leno'th o'ave them notice that he would not lono-er submit to 

(Do o ^ ^ 

these abuses, but would adopt measures to defend his rights. 

The principal aggressors in this matter were three pro-slavery 
men, named Franklin M. Coleman, Josiah Hargis, and Har- 
rison W. Buckley. On the 21st of November, Dow had an 
errand to a blacksmith shop in the vicinity, to which place he 
was followed by these three men, who there provoked a quar- 
rel with him about the claim, in the course of which Buckley 
cocked his gun and presented it at Dow, who entreated him 
not to shoot. He then left the shop and proceeded along the 
Santa Fe road toward the house of Branson, at which he 
boarded. Coleman followed, and soon overtook him, the other 
two keeping a short distance behind. Upon reaching Cole- 
man^s house they separated, Dow walking slowly on. As soon 
as he reached his house, Coleman raised his gun, and aiming 
at *Dow's back, pulled the trigger. The noise of the explod- 
ing cap, the gun not discharging, startled Dow, who suddenly 
turned towards Coleman, and threw up his arms imploring 
him not to fire; when Coleman delibera.tely put on a new cap, 
raised his gun and discharged a heavy load of buckshot and 
slugs, which entered the breast and heart of Dow, killing him 
instantly. The other two parties to this atrocious murder^ soon 



SHERIFF SAMUEL J. JONES. 51 

joined Coleman, and the three appeared to rejoice over the 
fiendish deed. The body of Dow lay in the road, where it fell, 
during the whole afternoon, when Branson, hearing of the af- 
fair, had it removed to his own dwelling. This occurrence 
was witnessed by a man named Moody and a wagoner. 

The authorities took no action in the matter^ and on the 
26th of the month, a meeting of settlers was held at Hickory 
Point to take it into consideration. This meeting was con- 
ducted with the utmost propriety, simply passing resolutions 
condemning the murder, and appointing a committee to take 
the necessary steps to bring the criminals to punishment. A 
proposition was made to burn their houses, but this act was 
almost universally condemned and deprecated by a resolution. 

Meanwhile, Coleman had fled towards Westport, and thrown 
himself upon the protection of the renowned Sheriff Jones, 
whom he met near Shawnee Mission, and who it is time should 
be properly introduced to the reader. 

Samuel J. Jones is, perhaps, over thirty years of age, and 
about six feet in height, though not stoutly built. His hair 
is light, his complexion cadaverous, and his features irregular 
and unprepossessing. His eye is small, and when in repose, 
dull and unmeaning. He seldom looks those with whom he 
is conversing full in the face, though his eye constantly wan- 
ders about as if he was apprehensive of some unknown dan- 
ger. His conversation is in short and broken sentences, 
always well interspersed with oaths, and generally relates to 
his own exploits against the free-state people, of whom he 
has been one of the most relentless persecutors. He delights 
in conveying the impression that he bears a '' charmed life,^^ 
and in proof of his many ^' hair-breadth 'scapes,'' will occa- 
sionally exhibit a broken watch chain or a hole in his gar- 
ment, effected by a ball aimed at him by some unseen enemy. 
He is now suffering from a pistol ball, lodged somewhere about 
the spinal column, which he received at night while in a tent 
at Lawrence. Every attempt, in which the free-state men 
were most active, to discover the perpetrator of this outrage, 
proved futile, and even the most rabid friends of Jones failed 
to make any great capital out of the affair. He seems to have 
pretty well understood the case, for he has since asserted that 
he believes the shot was fired by a man with whose wife he 
had been fooling. 

Sheriff Jones is one of the most zealous of the pro slavery 
men, and has done as much to create and perpetuate the diffi- 



52 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

culties that have disgraced Kansas, as any other individual. 
He has led in bands of invaders to prevent the citizens from 
giving a fair expression of their opinions at the ballot-box ; 
interfered with the elections on every possible occasion ; as- 
sisted in the destruction of property; and done everything in 
his power to harass and distress free-state people, by whom 
he is generally held in detestation. In none of the outrages 
in which he has taken an active part, however, has he exhi- 
bited evidences of that bravery his friends attribute to him ; 
for in no instance has he ever interfered with, or shown fight 
to his political opposers, excepting when the odds were decid- 
edly in his favor, as respected arms and physical and numeri- 
cal strength. Jones is held in the highest estimation by his 
party, and is always consulted when there is any mischief in 
contemplation. He owns some real estate, all of which is en- 
cumbered to nearly if not its full value, and his name stands 
upon the bail-bonds of some of the worst men that have yet 
been indicted for crime by the grand juries. 

When Coleman told his story to Jones, the sheriff accom- 
panied him to Shawnee Mission, where by advice, he surren- 
dered himself to Governor Shannon, and then accompanied 
Jones towards Lecompton, to be examined. Upon reaching 
Franklin, this party were joined by Hargis and Buckley, 
when a most interesting scheme was concocted. Buckley was 
induced to swear that his life was in danger from threats made 
by old Jacob Branson, the friend of young Dow, and to effect 
the arrest of Branson, Jones induced a justice of the peace, 
named Hugh Cameron, to issue .a peace- warrant for Branson's 
arrest, which was given to the sheriff for execution. A party 
of fifteen was then obtained as a posse, including Jones and 
the two accessories to the murder of Dow, who reached Bran- 
son's house toward midnight of the 26th, the same day upon 
which the meeting at Hickory Point was held. The door was 
burst open, and Branson arrested while in bed. 

In the meantime, the free-state settlers in the neighborhood, 
ascertained what was going on, and hastily forming a company, 
posted themselves at Blanton's Bridge, where they knew 
Jones must pass with his prisoner. Here the parties met 
about two hours after midnight, and the free-state men de- 
manded the surrender of Branson. Jones first swore terrifi- 
cally, and then coaxed the rescuers to allow him to proceed, 
as he was the sheriff of Douglas county, and in discharge 
of his official duty. The opposite party were inexorable and 



GOVERNOR WILSON SHANNON. 53 

demanded that Jacob Branson should be delivered into tbeir 
hands. The sheriff then declared he would fire into them if 
they persisted; to which he received the reply that he might 
fire and be d — d; that at that game both parties might take 
a hand. Branson then left the sheriffs party, and, without 
any attempt at violent detention, joined his friends, who, leav- 
ing Jones mad with anger, and loudly vaporing in the road, 
marched triumphantly toward Lawrence, which town they en- 
tered before the sun had risen. 

A number of aflS davits were made in regard to the arrest 
and rescue of Branson, by Hargis, Buckley, and Jones, of 
the pro-slavery, and sundry individuals of the free-state party, 
all of which substantiate the above relation, the principal dif- ■ 
ference being in the unimportant fact, that the rescuing com- 
pany, agreeably to the account of the sheriff and his friends, 
were exaggerated to the number of thirty or forty, while 
themselves claim, which seems to be the true state of the 
ease, only fourteen men. 

Coleman was taken to Lecompton, where he was discharged 
from custody upon entering bail in the sum of five hundred 
dollars. Just before the murder of Dow he had been com- 
missioned as a justice of the peace by Governor Shannon. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Governor "Wilson Shannon. — Consequences of the arrest and rescue of 
Branson. — Meeting at Lawrence. — Military organization for defence. — 
Sheriff Jones requires three thousand men. — The governor orders out 
the militia. — A general call to arms. — The governor issues a proclama- 
tion.- — War excitement in Missouri. — The invading army. — Governor 
Shannon's excuse. 

Wilson Shannon, at the time of the occurrences narrated 
in the last part of the preceding chapter, was Governor of 
Kansas, having arrived in the territory and assumed the ex- 
ecutive functions on the 1st of September, 1855. The ob- 
jects of his appointment at that peculiar period, to such an 
important trust, though inexplicable to all who knew his quali- 
fications, was doubtless well understood by the administration. 
He had previously held several responsible public positions, 
in neither of which he did any great credit to himself or to 
5 * 



54 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

the appointing power. He was decidedly a pro-slavery man. 
though hailing from a free state^ and in a speech he made at 
Westport, before entering the territory, proclaimed his deter- 
mination to exert to the utmost of his abilities^ in his official 
capacity, all his influence and power to promote the interests 
of the pro-slavery cause. But he lacked the moral courage 
to accomplish the work he had promised and was expected to 
perform. The leaders of the free-state party soon understood 
the weak points of his character, and by appealing success- 
fully to his grosser passions, caused him so to vacillate as to 
render him a subject of their own ridicule and the contempt 
of those whom he desired to serve. He soon lost the confi- 
' dence of all classes. The free-state people were content to 
have him retained in office, as they considered him less dan- 
gerous to their interests than one entertaining the same sen- 
timents but greater force of character; but those of the oppo- 
site side required a man who would stand firmly by them in 
every critical emergency. Hence they not only sought his 
removal, and left no means untried to annoy and embarrass 
him, but actually at last, succeeded in terrifying him to such 
an extent, that he fled alone from the territory with the 
apprehension that his life was really in danger from their 
hands. 

The arrest and rescue of Branson led to many serious diffi- 
culties. It was, in fact, the beginning of the war which was 
subsequently waged with such frightful consequences. Soon 
after he reached Lawrence, a meeting of the citizens was held, 
at which S. N. Wood, the leader of the rescuing party pre- 
sided, and at which, because of the fierce threats of Sheriff 
Jones, it was resolved to form a military organization, and to 
prepare to defend the town against an expected assault. Dr. 
Charles Robinson was chosen commander-in-chief of the volun- 
teer forces, and Col. James H. Lane to be the second in com- 
mand. A large fortification was thrown up on Mount Oread, 
a prominence commanding the main entrances to the city, in 
various parts of which earthen breastworks, or redoubts, were 
constructed. 

Sheriff Jones hastened from the scene of his discomfiture to 
the town of Franklin, where he raved like one bereft of his 
reason, and swore terrifically that he would have revenge be- 
fore he returned to Missouri. He forthwith sent a messenger 
to Col. A. Gr. Boone, of Westport, and another to Governor 
Shannon, with the following dispatch : — 



THE MILITIA ORDERED OUT. 55 

*' Douglas County, K. T., Nov. 27, 1855. 
"Sir: Last night I, with & posse of ten men, arrested one Jacob 
Branson, by virtue of a peace-warrant regularly issued, who, on our 
return, was rescued by a party of forty armed men, who rushed upon 
us suddenly from behind a house upon the road-side, all armed to the 
teeth with Sharpe's rifles. 

*' You may consider an open rebellion as having already commenced, 
and I call upon you for three thousand men to carry out the laws. 
Mr. Hargis (the bearer of the letter) will give you more particularly 
the circumstances. 

** Most respectfully, Samuel J. Jones, 

*' Sheriff of Douglas Co. 
** To his Excellency, Wilson Shannon, 

*' Governor of Kansas Territory." 

This requisition for three thousand men might excite ridi- 
cule were it not known that Jones had already laid his plans 
to obtain them from Missouri ; and of such a class as he knew 
would be willing to do his bidding. At this time the gover- 
nor had no Kansas militia to furnish the sheriff, no organiza- 
tion having ever been effected, and the entire territorial 
military force consisted of a few generals and other commis- 
sioned officers. The governor, however, desirous of gratifying 
the sheriff to the full extent of his means, issued the follow- 
ing dispatch to William P. Richardson, a citizen of Missouri, 
but a member of the Kansas Council and major general of 
the territorial militia. The governor dates, in true military 
style, from Jffead Quarters : — 

**Head Quarters, Shawnee Mission, K. T., 

**Nov. 27, 1855. 
** Major-General William P. Richardson, 

"Sir; Reliable information has reached me that an armed military 
force is now in Lawrence, or in that vicinity, in open rebellion against 
the laws of this territory ; and that they have determined that no 
process in the hands of the sheriff of that county shall be executed. 
I have received a letter from S. J. Jones, the sheriff of Douglas 
county, informing me that he had arrested a man under a warrant 
placed in his hands ; and while conveying him to Lecompton, he was 
met by an armed force of some forty men, who rescued the prisoner 
from his custody, and bid open defiance to the law. I am also duly 
informed that a band of armed men have burned a number of hou^is, 
destroyed personal property, and turned whole families out of doors. 
This has occurred in Douglas county ; warrants will be issued against 
these men and placed in the hands of Mr. Jones, the sheriff of that 
county, for execution ; who has written to me, demanding three 
thousand men to aid him in preserving the peace and carrying out 
the process of the law. 

*'You are hereby ordered to collect together as large a force as 



56 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

you can in your division, and repair without delay to Lecompton, 
and report yourself to S. J. Jones, sheriff of Douglas county. You 
will inform him of the number of men under your control, and render 
him all the assistance in your power, should he require your aid in 
the execution of any legal process in his hands. , 

"The forces under your command are to be used for the sole 
purpose of aiding the sheriff in executing the law, and for none other. 
*' I have the honor to be your obt. servt., 

** Wilson Shannon." 

A similar order was addressed on the same day to Adjutant 
General Hiram J. Strickler. The brigadier general of the 
second division, residing at Leavenworth City, also a member 
of the Council and editor of the Leavenworth ^era/c?,'iiad 
received a dispatch by a special messenger, from Head Quar- 
ters, and on the 28th issued the following order : — 

*' Head Quarters of Second Brigade of Northern Division of 

Kansas Militia, Leavenworth City, Nov. 28, 1855. 
** To the Militia of the Second Brigade: 

" Information has been received by me that a state of open rebellion 
is now in existence in Douglas county, Kansas Territory. This is, 
therefore, to command the militia of my brigade of the Northern 
Division to meet at Leavenworth City, on Saturday, 1st day of 
December, 1855, at 11 o'clock, A. M., armed and equipped according 
to law, and to hold themselves in readiness, subject to the order of 
Major-General W. P. Richardson. 

** Bring your arms and ammunition along. 

"LuciAN J. Eastin, 
**Brig. Gen. of 2d Brigade, Northern Division Kansas Militia." 

The following hand-bill was posted in various prominent 
places : — 

" TO ARMS ! TO ARMS ! 

" It is expected that every lover of law and order will rally at 
Leavenworth on Saturday, December 1st, 1855, prepared to march at 
once to the scene of rebellion, to put down the outlaws of Douglas 
county, who are committing depredations upon persons and property, 
burning down houses, and declaring open hostility and resistance to 
the laws, and have forcibly rescued a prisoner from the sheriff. 
Come one, come all ! The laws must be executed. The outlaws, it 
is said, are armed to the teeth, and number one thousand men. 
Every man should bring his rifle, ammunition, and it would be well 
to bring two or three days' provisions. Let the call be promptly 
obeyed. Every man to his post, and to his duty. 

"Many Citizens." 

A proclamation was issued by the governor on the 29th, 
settino; forth that the sheriff had been molested in the discharo;e 



MISSOURI VOLUNTEERS. 57 

of his official duties, a prisoner rescued from his hands, and 
his life endangered, and calling upon all good citizens to come 
forward to assist in reclaiming the said prisoner, and to dis- 
perse a ^^ numerous association of lawless men, armed with 
deadly weapons, and supplied with all the implements of war, 
combined and confederated together for the avowed purpose 
of opposing, by force and violence, the execution of the laws 
of this territory/^ 

Col. Boone, having received the dispatch of Sheriff Jones, 
immediately called upon sundry prominent men of Indepen- 
dence, Mo., for help, and upon receiving a letter asking fur- 
ther information, replied as follows : — 

" Shawnee Mission, Nov. 30, 5 A. M. 
" To Dr. McMurry and Col. Sam'l Woodson : 

*' Your favor was received. I thought I was too well known in the 
community to be thought capable of practising a hoax. The marshal 
has a requisition from the governor to arrest forty-two men in 
Lawrence, and they refuse to give them up, and he calls for volunteers, 
and if the citizens refuse to aid him, I cannot help it. They also say 
publicly that they will take Coleman and .Jones, and hang them both. 

** They are drilling in the open prairie every day, and have five 
fine pieces of artillery, and openly bid defiance to the laws. 

" A large number of them were seen crossing from Delaware and 
Leavenworth yesterday, going to Lawrence. 

"A member of the Legislature was from there yesterday morning 
for guns. We can only send twenty. Jones also sends for a wagon- 
load of ammunition and cannon. 

" Now act, or not, as you please. If you will send the cannon 
here, I will take it there myself. In haste. 

*'A. G. BooNE." 

Upon the receipt of this^ the following circular was published 
and widely circulated . — 

** Independence, Mo., Dec. 2. 
*' An express, in. at ten o'clock last night, says all the volunteers, 
ammunition, &c., that can be raised will be needed. The express 
was forwarded by Gov. Shannon to Col. Woodson, and by Woodson 
to this place, to be transmitted to various parts of the county. Call 
a meeting, and do everything you can. 

*'Drs. McMurry and Henry." 

The Col. Woodson here named, is a member of Congress 
from Missouri, but has on several occasions taken an active 
part among the Missouri ttvaders of Kansas. On the next 
day, another circular, still more inflammatory, and numerously 
signed by respectahle citizens, was published at Independence, 
of which the following is a copy : — 



58 HISTORY OF KANSAS* 

** Independence, Dec. 3, 8 P. M. 
** Jones will not make a move until there is sufiQcient force in the 
field to ensure success. We have not more than three hundred men 
in the territory. You will, therefore, urge all who are interested in 
the matter to start immediately for the seat of war. There is no 
doubt in regard to having a fight ^ and ice all know that a great many have 
complained because they wtre disappointed heretofore in regard to a fight. 
Say to them^ now is the time to shoio game^ and, if we are defeated this 
time, the territory is lost to the South.^^ 

From Kansas City, the following dispatcli was sent to Platte 
county, to encourage the people of that neighborhood, and it 
was there circulated, accompanied with appeals for men, arms, 
money and provisions : — 

"Kansas City, Mo., Dec. 3, 8 P. M. 
" Mr. Payne, the mayor of this city, went to Liberty to-day, and 
succeeded in raising two hundred men and one thousand dollars for 
the assistance of Jones." 

Many documents of this description were widely spread all 
along the western border of Missouri. The result was that about 
fifteen hundred men were gathered in that state, who entered 
Kansas, and encamped on the Wakarusa, a few miles from the 
town of Lawrence. Concerning this invading army. Gov. 
Shannon uses the following apologetic language, which more 
than his acts, exhibits his weakness and incompetency to govern 
under the trying circumstances in which he suffered himself 
to become involved, by heeding the counsels and yielding to 
the mandates of a rash, passionate, and arbitrary subordinate. 

^^ These men,'' he says, ^^came to the Wakarusa camp to 
fight ) they did not ask peace; it was war — loar to the knife. 
They would come ; it was impossible to prevent them. What, 
then, was my policy? Certainly this ,* to mitigate an evil, which 
it was impossible to suppress, by bringing under military control 
these irregular and excited forces. This was only to be accom- 
plished by permitting the continuance of the course which had 
already been adopted j without my knowledge, by Generals 
Richardson and Strickler ; that is, to have the volunteers in- 
corporated, as they came in, into the already organized com- 
mand. A portion of these men, who were mostly from Jackson 
county. Mo., reported themselves to Sherifi* Jones, by giving 
in a list of their names, as willing to serve in his posse ; and 
he, after taking legal advice upon the question, determined to 
receive them. They were accordingly enrolled/' 



CALL FOR UNITED STATES TROOPS. 59 



CHAPTER X. 

The governor calls upon Colonel Sumner for United States troops. — Pro- 
position for the Lawrence people to surrender their arms. — The go- 
vernor makes a treaty 'with the free-state generals. — Dispersion of the 
militia. 

Governor Shannon discovered that it was easier to raise 
than allay a storm among the excitable people with whom he 
had to deal, and was alarmed at the probable consequences of 
his own hasty action. He was sensible of the difficulty he 
would have to control the lawless invaders whom he had caused 
to be enrolled as Kansas militia. Some of the more judicious 
of the pro-slavery leaders saw the subject in its true and fright- 
ful aspects, and began to suggest measures to end the troubles 
without the threatened loss of life and property. Hence 
General Eastin dispatched the following advice to Governor 
Shannon : — 

<' Leavenworth, K. T., Nov. 30, 1855. 
** GovERNoii Shannon : 

"Information has been received here direct from Lawrence, which 
I consider reliable, that the outlaws of Douglas county are well forti- 
fied at Lawrence with cannon and Sharpe's rifles, and number at least 
one thousand men. It will, therefore, be difl5cult to dispossess them. 
'*The militia in this portion of the state are entirely unorganized, 
and mostly without arms. 

"I suggest the propriety of calling upon the military at Fort 
Leavenworth. If you have the power to call out the government 
troops, I think it would be best to do so at once. It might overawe 
these outlaws and prevent bloodshed. 

*'L. J. Eastin, 
"Brig. General, Northern Brigade, K. M." 

The governor adopted this suggestion as the easiest means 
of freeing himself from his unfortunate dilemma, and immedi- 
ately forwarded several dispatches to Colonel Sumner, com- 
manding at Fort Leavenworth, asking him to interpose the 
United States troops between the opposing parties, and thus 
prevent a collision. To all of which the colonel replied that 
he did not feel justified to act ^'m this matter until orders were 
received from the government.'^ Some of the leaders of the 
WakaiTisa army had attempted to intercept Shannon's dis- 
patches to Colonel Sumner, in order to prevent the interference 
of the United States forces, until they could destroy the town 



t>U HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

of Lawrence. The following letter from Colonel Joseph C. 
Anderson^ of Lexington^ Missouri, indicates the feelings of the 
invading army : — 

** Major-General William P. Richardson : 

"Sir: I have reason to believe from rumors in camp that before 
to-morrow morning the black flag will be hoisted, when nine out of 
ten will rally round it, and march without orders upon Lawrence. 
The forces at the Lecorapton camp fully understand the plot, and will 
fight under the same banner. 

*' If Governor Shannon will pledge himself not to allow any United 
States officer to interfere with the arms belonging to the United 
States now in their possession, and, in case there is no battle, order 
the United States forces off at once, and retain the militia, provided 
any force is retained — all will be well, and all will obey to the end, 
and commit no depredation upon private property in Lawrence. 

*' I fear a collision between the United States soldiers, and the 
volunteers, which would be dreadful. 

'* Speedy measures should be taken. Let the men know at once — 
to-night — and I fear that it will even then be too late to stay the rash- 
ness of our 'people, 

** Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

*' J. C. Anderson." 

General Richardson was beginning to open his eyes, and to 
see that an attack upon Lawrence might not, after all, be an 
entirely one-sided battle. It had been ascertained, in the 
Wakarusa camp,, that Robinson and Lane had not been wholly 
idle, but had collected a force of over one thousand men, many 
of them armed with Sharpens rifles, and having in possession 
several cannon, and that they seemed as anxious for an oppor- 
tunity to resist as were their enemies to attack. Hence the 
general proposed to the governor, that, instead of assaulting 
Lawrence, it would be better, in order to prevent the effusion 
of blood, simply to demand of the citizens to surrender their 
arms. 

But the governor could not clearly perceive how the course 
suggested by his friend, would tend to ^^ prevent the effusion 
of blood and preserve the peace of the territory.^' He knew 
the people of Lawrence too well to suppose they would peacea- 
bly surrender their arms, and thus • expose themselves, in a 
defenceless condition, to the tender mercies of the fierce men 
who were thirsting for their blood; and he felt quite well 
-assured that an attempt to deprive them of those arms by force, 
might lead to anything but the most desirable results. He, 
therefore, preferred to follow the more sensible advice of 
Colonel Sumner^ who said: ^^I would respectfully suggest 



GOVERNOR shannon's TROOPS. 61 

that you make your application to the government extensively 
known, at once ; and I would countermand any orders that 
may have been given for the movement of the militia^ until 
you receive the answer.'^ 

Accordingly, his excellency addressed communications to 
General Richardson and Sheriff Jones, ordering them to pro- 
ceed no further until he should receive instructions from 
Washington, in reference to the employment of the United 
States troops. Richardson readily acquiesced; but Jones, 
whose voice was ^^ still for war,'' addressed the following rather 
indignant reply to the governor : — 

" Camp, at Wakarusa, Dec. 4, 1855. 
" His Excellency, Governoii Wilson Shannon : 

** Sir: In raply to your communication of yesterday I have to inform 
you that the volunteer forces, now at this place and at Lecompton, 
are getting weary of inaction. They will not, I presume, remain but 
a very short time longer, unless a demand for the prisoner is made. 
I think I shall have a sufficient force to protect me by to-morrow 
morning. The force at Lawrence is not half so strong as reported ; 
I have this from a reliable source. If I am to wait for the govern- 
ment troops, more than two-thirds of the men now here will go away, 
very much dissatisfied. They are leaving hourly as it is. I do not, 
by any means, wish to violate your orders, but I really believe that 
if I have a sufficient force, it would be better to make the demand. 

**It is reported that the people of Lawrence have run off those 
offenders from that town, and, indeed, it is said that they are now all 
out of the way. I have writs for sixteen persons, who were with the 
party that rescued my prisoner. S. N. Wood, P. K Brooks, and 
Saml. Tappan are of Lawrence, the balance from the country round. 
Warrants will be placed in my hands to-day for the arrest of G-. W. 
Brown, and probably others in Lawrence, They say that they are 
willing to obey the laws, but no confidence can be placed in any 
statements they may make. 

"No evidence sufficient to cause a warrant to issue has as yet been 
brought against those lawless men who fired the houses. 

** I would give you the names of the defendants, but the writs are 
in my office at Lecompton. 

" Most respectfully yours, 

*' Samuel J. Jones, 
" Sheriff of Douglas county." 

Affairs remained unchanged until the 6th of the month, 
when the governor called a convention of officers^ to consult 
with them in regard to his desires and purposes. They con- 
vened at his quarters, when, after defining his position, he 
'^ soon discovered/' as he says, " but one person present who 
fully approved of the course which he desired to pursue. The 
6 



62 - HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

otliers wished to go further. Some would h(»ar of nothing 
less than the destruction of Lawrence and its fortifications, the 
demolition of its printing presses, and the unconditional sur- 
render of the arms of its citizens. Others, more moderate, 
expressed a willingness to be satisfied, if the free-state party 
would give up their Sharpens rifles and revolvers. Under 
these unfavorable circumstances, the conference broke up at 
midnight, having accomplished nothing beyond the inter- 
change of opinions on either side/^ 

On the morning of the 7th, the governor visited Lawrence, 
and, in a lengthy interview with Robinson and Lane, sug- 
gested, as a means of safety to the citizens and of peace to the 
territory, that they should surrender their arms to General 
Richardson, which proposition was positively declined. 

On the following day, prominent men of the pro-slavery 
party informed the governor that if the citizens of Lawrence 
did not give up their arms, the place would be attacked, and 
that he had better consult his own safety and keep out of 
danger. 

His excellency, therefore, again hastened to Lawrence, 
where he found that the people had held a meeting, on the 
previous evening, and submitted to writing the terms on 
which they proposed to treat. These, with few alterations, 
were agreed to, and received the signatures of the contracting 
parties, as follows : — 

" Whereas, there is a misunderstanding between the people of 
Kansas, or a portion of. them, and the governor thereof, arising out 
of the rescue at Hickory Point of a citizen under arrest, and other 
matters: And whereas, a strong apprehension exists that said mis- 
understanding may lead to civil strife and bloodshed : And, whereas, 
as it is desired by both Governor Shannon and the citizens of Law- 
rence and its vicinity, to avoid a calamity so disastrous to the inte- 
rests of the territory and the Union ; and to place all parties in a 
correct position before the world : Now, therefore it is agreed by the 
said Governor Shannon and the undersigned citizens of the said ter- 
ritory, in Lawrence now assembled, that the matter is settled as fol- 
lows, to wit : 

" We, the said citizens of said territory, protest that the said rescue 
was made without our knowledge or consent, but that if any of our 
citizens in said territory were engaged in said rescue, we pledge our- 
selves to aid in the execution of any Ze^aZ process against them ; that 
we have no knowledge of the previous, present, or prospective existence of 
any organization in the said territory, for the resistance of the laws ; and 
we have not designed and do not design to resist the execution of any 
legal service of any criminal process therein, but pledge ourselves to 
aid in the execution of the laws, when called upon by the proper 



GOVERNOR SHANNON AT LAWRENCE. • 63 

mifliorify, in the town and vicinity of Lawrence, and that we will use • 
our influence in preserving order therein, and declare that we are 
DOW, as we have ever been, ready to aid the governor in securing a 
2:>osse for the execution of such process ; provided, that any person 
thus arrested in Lawrence or its vicinity, while a foreign foe shall 
remain in the territory, shall be only examined before a United States 
District Judge of said territory, in said town, and admitted to bail ; 
and provided further, that all citizens arrested without legal process., 
shall be set at liberty; and provided further, that Governor Shannon 
agrees to use his influence to secure to the citizens of Kansas Terri- 
tory remuneration for any damage suffered in any unlawful depre- 
dations, if any such have been committed by the sheriff's posse in 
Douglas county. And further, Governor Shannon states, that he has 
not called upon persons, residents of any other states to aid in the 
execution of the laws ; that such as are here are here of their own 
choice, and that he does not consider that he has any authority to do 
so, and that he will not call upon any citizens of any other state who 
may be here. 

" We wish it understood, that we do not herein express any opinion 
as to the validity of the enactments of the Territorial Legislature. 

** Wilson Shannon, 
** Charles Robinson, 
**J. H. Lane. 

'♦ Done in Lawrence, K. T., Dec. 8, 1855." 

The next day, December 9tli, his excellency issued orders 
to Generals Eichardson and Strickler and to Sheriff Jones, to 
disband their forces. His order to Sheriff Jones was in the 
words following : — 

"Having made satisfactory arrangements by which all legal pro- 
cess in your hands, either now or hereafter, may be served without 
the aid of your present posse, you are hereby required to disband the 
same." 

The most singular part of this whole history is, that, while 
on a visit to Lawrence, and when stipulating a treaty with the 
free-state commanders, Governor Shannon furnished them 
with the following document : — 

** TO O. ROBINSON AND J. H. LANE, COMMANDERS OF THE ENROLLED 
CITIZENS OF LAWRENCE : 

*' You are hereby authorized and directed to take such measures 
and use the enrolled forces under your command in such manner, for 
the preservation of the peace and the protection of the persons and 
property of the people in Lawrence and its vicinity, as in your 
judgment shall best secure that end. 

** Wilson Shannon. 
*' Lawrence, Dec. 9, 1855." 

Governor Shannon had proclaimed the people of Lawrence 



64 • HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

to be an ^^association of lawless men/' in open rebellion against 
the lawSj and armed with the accustomed implements of war, 
to resist the officers of the territory in the prosecution of their 
duty. He had caused their city to be besieged by a large 
army of infuriated men from a neighboring state, whom he 
had enrolled as his own militia, to subdue and disarm the 
rebels. But after continuing the siege nine or ten days, he 
visits these '^ lawless men,'' who invite him to a '' convivial 
party," in the midst of which, when the enraged army outside 
was for the time being forgotten, and all was hilarity and joy, 
the good-natured governor signs a paper authorizing the com- 
manders of the rebels to ^' use the enrolled forces under their 
command' ' in such manner as their own judgment should dic- 
tate, to resht Ms own forces should they attempt to prosecute 
the object for which they were called into the field. Generals 
Kobinson and Lane were skilful tacticians, and Shannon a most 
accommodating governor. No wonder that Sheriff Jones should 
feel aggrieved and angry at being thus despoiled of his con- 
templated revenge. 

But it is due to the governor that he should be allowed to 
give his own explanation of this strange procedure. He says : 

*' In the evening I was invited to attend a social gathering of ladies 
and gentlemen of the town of Lawrence^ at the Emigrant Aid Society 
Hotel, which I accepted. There were but two rooms finished in the 
hotel ; they were small, and in the third story, and were, therefore, 
very much crowded by the company assembled. The time was spent 
in the most friendly and social manner, and it seemed to be a matter of 
congratulation on every side that the difficulties so lately threatening 
had at length been brought to a happy termination. In the midst of 
this convivial party, and about ten o'clock at night. Dr. C. Robinson 
came to me, in. a state of apparent excitement, and declared that 
their picket guard had just come in and reported that there was a 
large irregular force near the town of Lawrence, who were threatening 
an attack; adding that the citizens of Lawrence claimed the protection 
of the executive, and to this end desired me to give himself and 
Gen. Lane written permission to repel the threatened assault. I 
replied to Dr. Robinson that they did not require any authority from 
me, as they would be entirely justified in repelling by force any 
attack upon their town ; that the law of self-preservation was 
sufficient, and that any authority which I might give would add 
nothing to its strength. The doctor replied that they had been 
represented as having arrayed themselves against the laws and public 
officers of the territory, and that he therefore wished me to give him 
written authority to repel the threatened assault, so that it might 
appear hereafter, if a renconter did .take place, that they, were not 
acting against^ but witli^ the approbation of the territorial executive. 



MURDER OP THOMAS W. BARBER. 65 

With this view, amid an excited throng, in a small and crowded 
apartment, and without any critical examinatmi of the paper which 
Dr. Robinson had just written, I signed it; but it was distinctly 
understood that it had no application to anything but the threatened 
attack on Lawrence that night. 

"It did not for a moment occur to me that this pretended attack 
upon the town was but a device to obtain from me a paper which 
might be used to my prejudice. I supposed at the time that I was 
surrounded by gentlemen and by grateful hearts, and not by tricksters, 
who, with fraudulent representations, were seeking to obtain an 
advantage over me. I was the last man on the globe who deserved 
such treatment from the citizens of Lawi'ence. For four days and 
nights, and at the cost of many valuable friends, whose good will I 
have forfeited by favoring too pacific a course, I had labored most 
incessantly to save their town from destruction and their citizens 
from a bloody fight." 

The sheriff ^s army disbanded agreeably to orders^ the greater 
portion of it returning disgusted and enraged to Missouri, 
while the people of Lawrence, in anticipation of another visit 
at no distant day, went cjuietly though busily to work at in- 
creasing and strengthening their fortifications. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE MURDER OF THOMAS W. BARBER. 

Thus ended the Wakarusa war. but not till a most fearful 
tragedy had been enacted. About one o'clock on the after- 
noon of December 6th, three men, named Thomas W. Barber, 
Robert F. Barber and Thomas M. Pierson, left Lawrence to 
proceed to their houses^ about seven miles distant. They had 
progressed nearly four miles, when they saw a party of from 
twelve to fifteen horsemen, travelling the road leading from 
Lecompton to the Wakarusa camp. These were subsequently 
ascertained to be pro-slavery men, and among them were Gen. 
Richardson, commander of the Kansas militia; Judge S. G. 
Cato, of the Supreme Court of the territory ; Jno. P. Wood, 
probate judge and police magistrate of Douglas county ; Col. 
"J. N. Burns, a lawyer of Weston, Mo., and Major George W. 
Clarke, U. S. Agent for the Potawattomie Indians. 

The Barbers^ who were brothers, and Pierson, their brother- 
6* E 



66 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

in-law, had just left the main road and taken a nearer path 
to the left. Upon perceiving this movement, Clarke and 
Burns put spurs to their horses, and dashed across the prairie, 
with the obvious intention to intercept them. The Barbers, 
therefore, slackened their pace, when Clarke, getting within 
speaking distance, ordered them to halt, a summons which 
they immediately obeyed. Richardson, Cato, and the remain- 
der of Clarke's party, continued in full sight and at but a short 
distance. Clarke, who is a thick set man, about five feet 
three inches in height, exceedingly loquacious, and conse- 
quential in his manners, and notorious for his violent opposi- 
tion to free-state people, commenced interrogating the Bar- 
bers, demanding to know who they were, where they were 
from, and where they were going; to all of which questions 
Thomas W. Barber made mild and truthful replies. Clarke 
then ordered them to turn their horses heads and go with him 
and Burns, to which demand Barber answered, ^^ We wont,'' 
when Clarke drew his pistol, and taking deliberate aim, fired 
at Thomas W. Barber. Burns discharged his pistol almost at 
the same instant. Bobert F. Barber then returned the shots, 
firing three times in rapid succession without effect. Pierson 
had with him a small revolver, but could not get it out. 
Thomas W. Barber was without arms of any description. The 
parties then separated, taking opposite directions and gallop- 
ing their horses. They had proceeded but a short distance, 
when Thomas W. Barber remarked to his brother, with a 
smile, ^'That fellow shot me,^' and placed his hand against 
his side. Robert, perceiving that he had dropped the reins 
and was riding unsteadily, hastened to his assistance and 
attempted to support him ; but in a little while he slipped 
from his saddle and fell to the ground. His brother and 
Pierson immediately dismounted ; but Thomas was dead. 
They were about to place the body upon a horse and convey 
it home, when looking around they saw the other party 
again in pursuit, and to save their lives, they left it where it 
lay, hastily mounted and fled. They had not gone far when 
the horse of Robert gave out, and upon an examination he was 
found to have been shot, doubtless by Burns, just behind the 
fore-shoulder on the right side. He died during the night. 
The body of Barber was afterwards carried to Lawrence, where 
it was buried. A fouler murder than this, or one for which 
there was so little excuse, has not been committed during all 
the Kansas excitement. 



MURDER OF THOMAS W. BARBER. 67 

The pro-slavery men's account of this transaction is as fol- 
lows. They state that they were on their way from Lecompton 
to Franklin, and seeing Barber's party turn aside from the 
road, ^^ Colonel Burns and Major Clarke were detailed and rode 
to overtake the free-state men. This they did ; and, after 
halting them, a conversation ensued, in which the free-state men 
not only declared that there was no law nor order in the terrri- 
tory, but declined to surrender themselves in compliance with 
the demands of Clarke and his companions. Upon this both 
parties commenced drawing their arms, with the exception of 
one of the free-state men (who was most probably the man 
killed) ; this person sat on his horse a little apart from his 
companions. He had a switch in his hand, but drew no arms, 
nor did he appear to have any. Both parties ^squared to 
each other' and fired pistols, being the only weapons used. 
On the part of the pro-slavery men, Clarke was armed with a 
small five-inch Colt's revolver, while Colonel Burns had a navy 
revolver, which is heavier, and carries a much larger ball. 
After exchanging shots, the free-state men galloped off. 
Burns proposed to send a long shot after them with his rifle ; 
but Clarke objected, saying, ^ Let them go.^ Burns is said to 
have admitted that he thought he hit the man he fired at, as 
he saw him press his hand to his side, or^ as others state it, 
^ saw the fur fly from his old coat.^ '^ 

It is of little consequence which of the two men fired the 
fatal shot. Both were alike guilty, and both fired with the 
intention to kill. The testimony of Pierson and Robert F. 
Barber seems to fix the crime directly upon Clarke, who, it is 
said, and none who know the man will discredit the story, 
boastingly declared, when he entered the Wakarusa camp, ^^I 
have sent another d — d abolitionist to h-11 V^ 

A writer, who is decidedly pro-slavery in his tenden- 
cies, gives the following account of a visit, a short time 
afterwards, to the widow of the murdered man. After 
describing the dreary house, into which he entered, he 



"Between a heavy pine table, on which a flaring tallow 
candle stood flickering and sweltering in its socket, and the 
half-curtained window, against which the sleet and biting 
winter wind beat drearily, sat a woman of some forty years of 
age, plainly clad in a dress of coarse dark stuff. She was 
leaning forward when we entered, and seemed unmindful of 
all about her. It needed no introduction to tell us that this 



68 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

was the widow of Thomas W. Barber. No, the thin hand 
which supported the aching head and half shielded the tear- 
dimmed eyes, as well as the silent drops that came trickling 
down those wasted cheeks, had already told the story. What 
could we say in the way of consolation ? What was the cause 
of Kansas and liberty to her f Could the success of a party 
or the advancement of a principle dry those burning tears? 
Could tliei/ soothe the sorrows of what she herself has called a 
poor heart-broken creature ? Oh, ye demagogues ! ye peace- 
breakers ! ye incendiary orators of both north and south, 
whose aim is to urge on a strife, that you yourselves are not 
slow to avoid ! could you but have stood beside us, in her 
once happy home, and have listened to the broken sentences, 
uttered with all that unstudied pathos which an agonized and 
grief-torn spirit alone can give, we hope, for the sake of our 
common humanity, that the lesson would have sunk deep into 
your hearts. Hear what she says : 

^^ 'They have left me a poor forsaken creature, to mourn all 
my days. Oh, my husband 1 They have taken from me all 
that I held dear — one that I loved better than I loved my 
own life.' These are her very words. We have added 
nothing to them, nor have we taken aught from them. 

^^ There are circumstances connected with the life and 
character of the man Barber, which make his death more par- 
ticularly to be deplored. He adds another to the long list of 
victims who have been sacrificed to the demon of political 
excitement. Barber is spoken of as a quiet, inoffensive, and 
amiable man; domestic and unexceptionable in his habits, and 
deeply attached to his wife to whom he had been man*ied 
between nine and ten years. He was, moreover, the leading 
man among the agriculturists in his neighborhood ; a lover of 
fine stock ; and a careful pains-taking farmer. Such at least is 
the reputation he bore in Ohio, the state from whence he 
emigrated. He was unarmed when he received his death 
wound, and on his way to his home. His wife, to whom he 
had written to inform her of his coming, was expecting him. 
She is said to have loved her husband with more than ordi- 
nary devotion. Her sister-in-law tells us that they used to 
rally her, upon her almost girlish affection and solicitude for 
Thomas. It was her habit, when she saw him coming back 
from his work, to leave the house, and go forth to meet him 
on his way. If he failed to return at the time indicated, she 
grew anxious ; and if his stay was prolonged, oftentimes passed 



MURDER OF THOMAS W. BARBER. 69 

tlie night in tears ; when ill — the same informant tells us — 
she would hang over his bed, with all the anxiety of a mother 
for her child. She would seem, too, to have had a presentiment 
of some impending evil, for after exhausting every argument 
to prevent her husband from going to join the free-state forces 
in Lawrence, she said, ' Oh^ Thomas, if you should be shot, I 
should be all alone indeed; remember I have no child — 
nothing in the wide world to fill your place.' And this was 
their last parting. The intelligence of his death was kept 
from her — in mercy — through the kindness of her friends, but 
only to be announced, without the slightest preparation, by a 
young man, who had been sent out from Lawrence, with a 
carriage, to bring her in to the Free-State Hotel, where her 
husband's body had been laid. Upon arriving at the house 
where Mrs. Barber was, he rode up, most unthinkingly, and 
shouted, ^ Thomas Barber is killed.' His widow heard the 
dreadful tidings, rushed to the door, cried, ^ Oh, God ! what 
do I hear V and then filled the room with her shrieks. We 
have heard, too, a description of the heart-rending scene, which 
took place when they brought her into the apartment where 
her husband's body lay; of her throwing herself upon his 
corpse, and kissing the dead man's face ; of the fearful impre- 
cations, which, in her madness, she called down upon the 
heads of those who had separated her from all that she held 
dear; and these things were related to us by men, who turned 
shudderingly away from the exhibition of a sorrow which no 
earthly power could assuage. It is, moreover, stated that her 
companions were obliged to hold her forcibly down in the 
carnage, from whence her frantic exclamations rang out along 
the prairie, as they conveyed her from her home to the cham- 
ber of the dead." 

And what became of him who thus wantonly destroyed the 
life of an innocent and inoffensive man, and made such sad 
havoc of that poor woman's peace ? As the pretended con- 
servator of '^ law and order," he might subsequently have been 
seen at the head of bands of kindred spirits, traversing the 
country, venting, as once did Saul of Tarsus, threats of slaughter 
and destruction ; robbing stores and burning dwellings ; in the 
camps of infuriated armies bent upon ruin and desolation; in 
the legislative halls, the most active of those assembled, help- 
ing to enact laws for the oppression of free men ; writing in- 
flammatory articles for incendiary newspapers ; and finally, at 
the seat of the general government; in daily intercourse with the 



70 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

president and his cabinet, the new governor and secretary of 
Kansas^ consulting and advising as to the policy to be pursued 
for the government of that abused territory. 

This man boasts of his willingness and anxiety to be tried 
for the terrible crime of which he stands accused. And this 
he may do with perfect safety. Such a trial before a judge 
who was a witness, if not a party to his guilt, would be but 
mockery and a farce. But he must yet appear before that 
Supreme Judge, at whose dread tribunal no false witness will 
be heard and no quibbles of law can screen the guilty soul. 
There the blood of the murdered man, and the tears and sighs, 
shrieks, groans and terrible agonies of that distracted widow, 
will appeal and not in vain, for retributive justice upon the 
destroyer's head. ^^ Vengeance is mine! — 1 will repay, saith 
the Lord r 



CHAPTER Xn. 

Pro-slavery mob at Leavenworth. — Ballot-box stolen and clerk beaten. — 
^he jail and printing office destroyed. — The election and fight near 
Easton. — Murder of Capt. E. P. Brown. — Shannon receives authority to 
employ the troops. — Congressional Committee. — Arrival of Buford and 
his sonthern regiment. — Sheriff Jones shot at Lawrence. — Rev. Pardee 
Butler tarred and feathered. 

It would be impossible, in the limits allotted to this work, 
and to carry out its intentions, to give more than a mere pass- 
ing notice of the most important events that occurred prior to 
Governor Geary's arrival in the territory. Party spirit in- 
creased daily in violence, new accessions were constantly being 
made to each of the contending factions, and hordes of despe- 
radoes rushed into the country to take advantage of its dis- 
turbed condition, simply to plunder and destroy, regardless of 
the consequences, or of who might be the sufferers. Brutal and 
shocking crimes were of daily occurrence, and a state of affairs 
existed too disgusting and deplorable for language properly to 
describe. 

The Topeka Constitution being submitted to the people, an 
election was held in regard thereto on the 15th of December. 
This went off quietly, excepting at Leavenworth City. Here a 
drunken mob from Platte county, Missouri, with horrid yells, 



MURDER OF E. P. BROWN. *71 

curses and threats, attacked the house in which the votes were 
being polled, and beating one of the clerks almost to death, 
seized and carried off the ballot-box. Three days afterward 
they assailed the Leavenworth jail, and after releasing one of 
their companions who was held a prisoner, burned it to the 
ground ; and on the 20th of the month a similar mob, in- 
furiated by evil passions and bad whiskey, destroyed the print- 
ing office of the Territorial Register, the free-state newspaper 
at that place. 

An election for officers under the Topeka Constitution 
was ordered for the 15th of January, 1856. The Mayor of 
Leavenworth, a pro-slavery man, elected by force and fraud, 
forbid such election being held in that city. It was therefore 
adjourned for that district to the 17th, at a house near Easton, 
twelve miles from Leavenworth. At that time armed parties 
of pro-slavery men stationed themselves at various places on 
the road, and intercepted the passage of the free- state people, 
whom they disarmed and drove back from the place of voting. 
Threats being made to take and destroy the ballot-box, and a 
dispatch having been sent to Kickapoo for a company of the 
*^ Rangers^' to assist in that work, a party of twenty free-state 
men remained, after the polls were closed in the evening, to pro- 
tect the box. Late at night three of these, Mr. Stephen Sparks, 
his son, and nephew, supposing the danger over, started for 
their homes. When close to Easton, through which they had 
to pass, they were assailed by a party of a dozen armed men, 
who rushed upon them from a grocery where they were drink- 
ing and carousing. Mr. Sparks and his son retreated into a 
fence corner, where they drew their revolvers and kept their 
enemies at bay. The nephew made his escape, and spread the 
alarm among the free-state people, and Captain E. P. Brown, 
with fifteen mounted men, speedily came to the rescue of their 
friends. As they approached, the pro-slavery party retreated. 
At that moment a large body of the Kickapoo Rangers rushed 
upon the scene, and commanded Brown and his party to sur- 
render. This being refused, the Rangers commenced firing, 
which was promptly returned by Brown's men, and a general 
fight ensued, in the course of which both parties retreated to 
some empty houses, from which they continued their fire upon 
each other. This fight lasted over two hours, during which 
a pro-slavery man named Cook was killed, and several on each 
side were wounded. 

A short time after this rencontre, Brown, with seven others, 



72 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

left for their homes near Leavenworth, in a buggy and a one 
horse wagon. They had not proceeded far when a wagon 
filled with armed men passed them in the road, without any- 
thing being said on either side. Scarcely had they passed, 
when, at a bend in the road, two other wagons appeared, and 
also a party of mounted men. These were the Kicka- 
poo Rangers, who had thus fairly entrapped Brown and 
his party. Escape was impossible, and as resistance would 
have been certain destruction, Brown yielded to the wishes of 
his friends, and surrendered. Then commenced a series of 
cruelties never exceeded by the wildest savages. Capt. Martin, 
of the Bangers, being unable to restrain his men, after numerous 
efforts, turned away in disgust from their wanton atrocities. 
While, however, the most of them were engaged in tormenting 
Captain Brown, Martin succeeded in aiding the other prison- 
ers, who, in the meantime, had been confined in the store of 
a man named Dawson, to make their escape. The ruffians 
assaulted their unarmed prisoner with kicks and blows, 
and finally, after amusing themselves for some time in 
this way, literally hacked him to pieces with their hatchets, 
which, in imitation of the less savage Indians, they always 
carried. The fatal blow was given by a man named Gibson, 
who buried his hatchet in the side of Brown's skull, sinking 
it deep into the brain. Before life was extinct, his murderers 
carried him to his own house, when meeting his wife on the 
threshold, he exclaimed, ^^ I have been murdered by a gang 
of cowards in cold blood,'' and instantly fell dead in her arms. 
Can Heaven look upon such deeds and bless the cause in which 
they were committed ? 

February 16^/i, 1856. — Grovernor Shannon, in reply to his 
dispatches to Washington, received authority from the Federal 
Government to employ the United States troops to enforce the 
laws of the Shawnee Legislature.. The President, in the mean- 
time, had issued a proclamation denouncing the acts of the Topeka 
Assembly, and endorsing those of the pro-slavery party. The 
Secretary of War had also forwarded orders to the commander 
of the military department of the west to support Shannon in 
his efforts to enforce the enactments of the Shawnee Assembly, 
and to disperse the Topeka Legislature. 

March 19. — The House of Representatives appointed an 
Investigating Committee to inquire into the validity of the 
Shawnee Legislature, and of the election as a delegate of Gen. 
Whitfield. This committee arrived in Lawrence on the 17th 



ARRIVAL OP BUFORD. 73 

of April. During its sittings numerous attempts were made 
by pro-slavery men to interfere with the investigations, and 
threats were freely uttered against the personal safety of free- 
state men who should furnish them with evidence. A Mr 
Mace, having been before the commission, was on the same 
night shot at and wounded in his own house. Whilst Gover- 
nor Eeeder was before the committee as a witness at Tecum- 
seh, a subpoena was served upon him by Deputy Marshal 
Fain, who demanded his immediate presence at Lecompton, 
to appear before the grand jury. Eeeder, knowing that the 
sole object was to embarrass the investigation, refused to obey 
this summons. Mr. Howard, the chairman of the commission, 
could scarcely imagine it possible that these apparent attempts 
were actually intentions to interfere with their proceedings, 
but declared that if they were thus to be molested, he would 
call to their aid a sufficient force to arrest and send the offend- 
ing parties as prisoners to Washington. After a lengthy and 
thorough examination, this commission published a voluminous 
report, clearly setting forth the facts of the election outrages 
which have been briefly narrated in this book, and showing 
conclusively that General Whitfield and the Kansas Legisla- 
ture were alike elected by violence and fraud. 

Early in the month of April, Colonel Buford arrived in 
Kansas, with a regiment of men from Alabama, Georgia, and 
South Carolina. The most inflammatory appeals had been 
made to the patriotism of these people, and flattering promises 
of reward given to induce them to enlist in this service, the 
avowed objects of which were to drive the abolitionists out of 
the territory and make Kansas a slave state. Some of these 
proved to be worthy men, and afterwards became good citizens. 
But the vast majority were ^^ewd fellows of the baser sort/' 
who were qualified and prepared for the practice of any vil- 
lany, however enormous. They disgraced themselves by 
their violence and depredations before they reached the terri- 
tory, and, passing through Missouri, were a terror to. some of 
its inhabitants. After their arrival in Kansas, Marshal Do- 
nalson took them into pay as his posse, and Shannon armed 
them with United States muskets, furnished for the use of the 
militia of the territory. Many of these men subsequently 
traversed the country as bands of highwaymen and robbers. 

After Governor Shannon had received authority from Wash- 
ington to employ the United States troops to enforce the en- 
actments of the Legislative Assembly; Sherifl" Jones was in his 
7 



74 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

glory. Writs were obtained for the arrest of numerous free- 
state men, who were charged with sundry trivial offences, and 
the sheriff trooped about the country executing these writs, 
with companies of dragoons following at his heels. He several 
times visited Lawrence, where, although his very presence 
was considered an insult and an outrage, he succeeded in 
making arrests without resistance. The people, though not 
acknowledging his authority, bowed in submission to the go- 
vernment forces. 

On the 23d of April, the sheriff entered Lawrence, with a 
large force of United States dragoons, and arrested a number 
of persons, who were held as prisoners in the tents of the 
soldiers. At night, Jones was in his own tent, which was 
lighted, and, when stooping down, some person from the out- 
side fired at him, and the ball took effect in his back. The 
wound, though severe, did not prove mortal. 

This affair created a lively sensation in Lawrence. Much 
as the citizens despised Jones, they were averse to any outrage 
being committed upon him in that place, as they well knew 
nothing would have proved more gratifying to their enemies. 
They consequently held a public meeting, at which the attempt 
upon the life of Jones was censured in the severest terms, and 
a reward of five hundred dollars offered for the detection of the 
intended assassin. 

Jones and his party determined to make capital out of this 
affair. Although he does not seem to have been seriously injured, 
dispatches were forwarded to Washington on the subject, and 
even the president considered it of sufficient importance to 
elicit his official action. Communications, at the same time, 
were circulated through Missouri, and the pro-slavery papers 
teemed with inflammatory articles. Of these, the following 
is but a fair and even moderate specimen : — 

** Kansas is once more in commotion. The traitors of Lawrence 
have again set the laws of the territory at defiance, and this time 
have added murder to their crime. Sheriff Jones, of Douglas county, 
than whom a braver man never lived, has been murdered while in the 
performance of his official duties — shot down by the thieving paupers 
of the north, who are shipped to Kansas to infringe upon the rights 
of southern settlers, murder them when opportunity olfers, steal their 
property, and if possible, to raise a storm that will cease only with 
the Union itself. 

" The excitement in this city, during the past week, has been very 
great. Rumors of various kinds have reached us, and although we 
believed a difficulty had occurred, we were not prepared to hear of 



OUTRAGE ON PARDEE BUTLER. 75 

such lamentable news, — the death of the patriot Jones. His death 
must be avenged, his murder shall be avenged, if at the sacrifice of 
every abolitionist in the territory. If the pro-slavery party will 
quietly sit still and see our friends, one by one, murdered by these 
assassins, without raising their arms to protect them, we much mis- 
take their character. Will they again allow a northern governor to 
cheat them out of their just revenge? We answer emphatically, no ! 
If the governor of this territory and the administration at Washington 
any longer attempt to force us to assume the position of outlaws be- 
fore we can have justice done us, the sooner such a contingency arises 
the better. We are now in favor of levelling Lawrence, and chastising 
the traitors there congregated, should it result in the total destruction 
of the Union. If we are to have war, let it come now ! While the 
memory of our murdered friends, Clarke and Jones, is fresh in our 
memories, we can coolly and determinedly enter into the contest, let 
it result as it may. We do not approve of the course of the governor, 
in calling out the United States troops to enforce the laws of the ter- 
ritory. It looks to us as a virtual admission that the law and order 
party of Kansas are not strong enough within themselves to enforce 
the law." 

The sacking of free-state towns — ihe burning of freerstate 
houses — the ravishing and branding of free-state women, and 
turning them and their helpless children naked upon the 
prairies — the murders of free-state men and shocking mutila- 
tions of their dead bodies, — were all nothing, and less than 
nothing, when weighed in the balance against this villanous 
attempt to take the life of Sheriff Jones. That gentleman, 
however, was less violent than his friends and associates, in 
regard to this transaction ; and he was far less anxious than 
they, for secret reasons of his own, to discover and arrest his 
assailant. 

On the 30th of April, the Rev. Pardee Butler, having ter- 
minated safely his voyage on the raft, again ventured to cross 
the Missouri River, and make his appearance in the pro- 
slavery town of Atchison, when, as he says, *^ I spoke to no 
one in town save two merchants of the place, with whom I had 
business transactions since my first arrival in the territory. 
Having remained only a few minutes, I went to my buggy to 
resume my journey, when I was assaulted by Robert S. Kelly, 
junior editor of the Squatter Sovereign, and others; was 
dragged into a grocery, and there surrounded by a company 
of South Carolinians, who are reported to have been sent out 
by a Southern Emigrant Aid Society. '^ 

Here they exposed him to every sort of indignity, calling 
him a d — d abolitionist; and many of them insisting upon his 



76 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

being instantly shot or hung. There were present those, 
however, who protested strongly against the outrage, when 
Kelly, who was the prime mover in the business, fearing the 
consequences of murdering his victim, said he ^^ did not take 
Butler to be hanged, only tarred and feathered/' To this 
some demurred, calling it a ^^ milk-and-water-style'' of doing 
things. Eventually they concluded upon their arrangements, 
and, as Mr. Butler himself says : — 

^' They stripped me naked to the waist, covered my body 
with tar, and then, for the want of feathers, applied cotton- 
wool. Having appointed a committee of three to certainly 
hang me the next time I should come to Atchison, they tossed 
my clothes into the buggy, put me therein, accompanied me 
to the suburbs of the town, and sent me naked out upon the 
prairie. 

^^ I adjusted my attire about me as best I could, and has- 
tened to rejoin my wife and two little ones, on the banks of 
the Stranger Creek. It was rather a sorrowful meeting after 
so long a parting. Still, we were very thankful that, under 
the blessing of a good Providence, it had fared no worse with 
us all. 

^^ The first mob that sent me down the Missouri River on a 
raft — always excepting Robert S. Kelly — were courteous gen- 
tlemen compared with this last one. When I was towed out 
into the middle of the stream, I do not remember to have 
heard a word spoken by the men on shore. This last mob, 
when they left me on the border of the town, shrieked and 
yelled like a pack of New Zealand cannibals. The first mob 
did not attempt to abridge my right of speech. In reply to 
all the hard and bitter things they said against me they pa- 
tiently heard me to the end. But these men, who have come 
to introduce into Kanasas that order of things thai now exists 
in South Carolina, savagely gagged me into silence by rapping 
my face, choking me, pulling my beard, jerking me violently 
to my seat, and exclaiming, ^ D — n you, hold your tongue !' 
All this was done while my arms were pinioned behind me. 

^^ Many will ask now, as they have asked already, what is 
the true and proper cause of all these troubles which I have 
had in Atchison. ^ The head and front of my offending hath 
this extent, no more' : I had spoken among my neighbors 
favorably for making Kansas a free state, and said in the office 
of the Squatter Sovereign, I am a free-soiler, and intend to 
vote for Kansas to be a free state. It is true that Kelly, by 



lecompte's charge. 77 

an after-thouglit, has added two new counts to his bill of in- 
dictment against me. The first is that I went to the town of 
Atchison last August, talking abolitionism. I have not the 
honor of being an abolitionist. And, second, that I spoke, 
somehow or other, improperly in the presence of slaves. All 
this is not only utterly false, but the charges are ex-post facto ; 
for not a word was said of this the day they put me on the 
raft/' 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Charge of Judge Lecompte to the Grand Jury. — Presentment. — Arrests 
at Lawrence. — Travellers interrupted on the highways. — The murder of 
Jones and Stewart. — The sacking of Lawrence. — Burning of the hotel 
and destruction of printing offices. 

On the 5th of May, Judge Lecompte delivered a charge, 
highly partisan in its character, to the grand jury of Douglas 
county, of which, the following extract is in his own words : — 

" This territory was organized by an act of Congress, and so far 
its authority is from the United States. It has a Legislature elected 
in pursuance of that organic act. This Legislature, being an 
instrument of Congress, by which it governs the territory, has passed 
laws; these laws, therefore, are of United States authority and 
making, and all that resist these laws, resist the power and authority 
of the United States, and are, therefore, guilty of high treason. Now, 
gentlemen, if you find that any persons have resisted these laws, then 
must you, under your oaths, find bills against such persons for high 
treason. If you find that no such resistance has been made, but that 
combinations have been formed for the purpose of resisting them, and 
individuals of influence and notoriety have been aiding and abetting 
in such combinations, then must you still find bills for constructive 
treason, as the courts have decided that to constitute treason the 
blow need not be struck, but only the intention be made evident." 

The grand jury accordingly made a presentment, as fol- 
lows : — 

"The grand jury, sitting for the adjourned term of the First District 
Court in and for the county of Douglas, in the Territory of Kansas, 
beg leave to report to the honorable court that, from evidence laid 
before them, showing that the newspaper known as The Herald of 
Freedom, published at the town of Lawrence, has from time to time 
issued publications of the most inflammatory and seditious character, 

7* 



78 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

denying the legality of the territorial authorities, addressing and 
commanding forcible resistance to the same, demoralizing the popular 
mind, and rendering life and property unsafe, even to the extent of 
advising assassination as a last resort ; 

*' Also, that the paper known as The Kansas Free State has been 
similarly engaged, and has recently reported the resolutions of a public 
meeting in Johnson county, in this territory, in which resistance to 
the territorial laws even unto blood has been agreed upon ; and that 
we respectfully recommend their abatement as a nuisance. Also, 
that we are satisfied that the building known as the 'Free-State 
Hotel ' in Lawrence has been constructed with the view to military 
occupation and defence, regularly parapeted and port-holed for the 
use of cannon and small arms, and could only have been designed as 
a stronghold of resistance to law, thereby endangering the public 
safety, and encouraging rebellion and sedition in this country ; and 
respectfully recommend that steps be taken whereby this nuisance 
inay be removed, 

** Owen C. Stewart, Foreman." 

In order to accomplisli the objects of tliis presentment, 
whieli was simply a declaration of war against Lawrence, a 
number of writs were made out and placed in the hands of the 
marshal for the arrest of prominent citizens of that place. 
Although it is asserted that no attempts were made to resist 
the marshaFs deputies in serving these writs, the marshal, on 
the 11th of May, issued the following proclamation : — * 

**To THE People of Kansas Territory: 

*' Whereas, certain judicial writs of arrest have been directed to 
me by the First District Court of the United States, etc., to be 
executed within the county of Douglas, and whereas an attempt to 
execute them by the United States Deputy Marshal was evidently 
resisted by a large number of the citizens of Lawrence, and as there 
is every reason to believe that any attempt to execute these writs 
will be resisted by a large body of armed men ; now, therefore, the 
law-abiding citizens of the territory are commanded to be and appear 
at -Lecompton, as soon as practicable, and in numbers sufficient for 
the execution of the law. 

"Given under my hand, this 11th day of May, 1856. 

*' I. B. DONALSON, 

** United States Marshal for Kansas Territory.'' 

Previous to the publication of this proclamation, Buford^s 
regiment, and other armed bands, had taken up positions in the 
vicinity of Lawrence, who were not only committing depreda- 
tions upon the property of the settlers, but were intercepting, 
robbing, and imprisoning travellers on the public thoroughfares, 
and threatening to attack the town, in consequence of which a 
meeting was held, and a committee appointed to address Gov- 



TOWN MEETINGS AT LAWRENCE. 79 

ernor Shannon, stating the facts in gentle terms, and asking 
his protection against such bands by the United States troops 
at his disposal. 

To this respectful application the committee received the 
following reply : — 

** Executive Office, May 12, 1856, 

*' Lecompton, K. T. 

"Gentlemen: Your note of the eleventh inst. is received, and, in 
reply, I have to state that there is no force around or approaching 
Lawrence, except the legally constituted posse of the United States 
Marshal and Sheriff of Douglas county, each of whom, I am informed, 
have a number of writs in their hands for execution against persons 
now in Lawrence. I shall in no way interfere with either of these 
officers in the discharge of their official duties. 

*'If the citizens of Lawrence submit themselves to the territorial 
laws, and aid and assist the marshal and sheriff in the execution of 
processes in their hands, as all good citizens are bound to do when 
called on, they, or all such will entitle themselves to the protection 
of the law. But so long as they keep up a military or armed 
organization to resist the territorial laws and the officers charged 
with their execution, I shall not interpose to save them from the 
legitimate consequences of their illegal acts. 

**I have the honor to be yours, with great respect, 

"Wilson Shannon. 
"Messrs. C. W. Toplief, John Hutchinson, W. Y. Roberts." 

Still desirous of averting the impending difficulties^ the 
citizens of Lawrence held another meeting on the 13th, when 
the following preamble and resolution were adopted, copies of 
which were immediately forwarded to Marshal Donalson and 
Governor Shannon : — 

"Whereas by a proclamation to the people of Kansas Territory, by 
L B. Donalson, United States Marshal for said territory, issued on 
the 11th day of May, 1856, it is alleged that 'Certain judicial writs 
of arrest have been directed to him by the First District Court of the 
United States, etc., to be executed within the county of Douglas, and 
that an attempt to execute them by the United States Deputy Marshal 
was violently resisted by a large number of the citizens of Lawrence, 
and that there is every reason to believe that any attempt to execute 
said writs will be resisted by a large body of armed men; therefore, 

^'•Resolved, By this public meeting of the citizens of Lawrence, held 
this thirteenth day of May, 1856, that the allegations and charges 
against us, contained in the aforesaid proclamation, are wholly untrue 
in fact, and the conclusion which is drawn from them. The aforesaid 
deputy marshal was resisted in no manner whatever, nor by any person 
whatever, in the execution of said writs, except by him whose arrest 
the said deputy marshal was seeking to make. And that we now, as 
we have done heretofore, declare our willingness and determination, 



80 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

"without resistance, to acquiesce in the service upon us of any judicial 
•writs against us by the United States Deputy Marshal for Kansas 
Territory, and will furnish him with a posse for that purpose, if so 
requested ; but that we are ready to resist, if need be, unto death, 
the ravages and desolation of an invading mob. 

"J. A. Wakefield, President." 

On the 14th, still another meeting was held at Lawrence, 
and a letter, signed by a large and respectable committee ap- 
pointed for the purpose, was sent to the marshal, in which it 
was affirmed '' that no opposition will now, or at any future 
time, be offered to the execution of any legal process by your- 
self, or any person acting for you. We also pledge ourselves 
to assist you, if called upon, in the execution of any legal pro- 
cess. 

^^We declare ourselves to be order-loving and law-abiding 
citizens ; and only await an opportunity to testify our fidelity 
to the laws of the country, the constitution, and the Union. 

^' We are informed, also, that those men collecting about 
Lawrence openly declare that it is their attention to destroy 
the town and drive off the citizens. Of course we do not 
believe you give any countenance to such threats ; but, in view 
of the excited state of the public mind, we ask protection of 
the constituted authorities of the government, declaring our- 
selves in readiness to co-operate with them for the maintenance 
of the peace, order, and quiet, of the community in which we 
live.'^ 

In reply to this the marshal sends a lengthy communica- 
tion, intended to be bitterly sarcastic, which he closes with 
these words : — 

^' You say you call upon the constituted authorities of the 
government for protection. This, indeed, sounds strange from 
a large body of men armed with Sharpens rifles, and other 
implements of war, bound together by oaths and pledges, to 
resist the laws of the government they call on for protection. 
All persons in Kansas Territory, without regard to location, 
who honestly submit to the constituted authorities, will ever 
find me ready to aid in protecting them ; and all who seek to 
resist the laws of the land, and turn traitors to their country, 
will find me aiding and enforcing the laws, if not as an officer 
as a citizen. '' 

Whilst these documents were passing, the roads were block- 
aded by the marshal's posse of southern volunteers, upon which 
no man without a passport could safely venture. Captain Sam 



SACKING OP LAWRENCE. 81 

uel Walker, who "had carried one of the above-mentioned letters 
to Lecompton, was fired upon on his return to Lawrence. Mr. 
Miller, who with two others had gone up to negotiate with the 
governor for an amicable adjustment of the pending troubles, 
was taken prisoner bj a detachment of Buford's South Caro- 
linians near Lecompton, who knowing him to have been from 
their own state, tried him for treason and sentenced him to be 
hung. He contrived, somehow, to get away with the loss of 
his horse and purse. Mr. Weaver, a sergeant-at-arms of the 
Congressional Committee, was arrested while in the discharge 
of his duty, and carried across the Kansas River, to the South 
Carolinian camp, where after a critical examination of his 
papers, he was discovered to be in the service of the L^nited 
States, and released, the officer in command giving him a pass, 
and kindly advising him to answer promptly, if challenged, 
otherwise he might be shot. Outrages of this kind became so 
frequent that all travel was at last suspended. 

On the 17th of May the citizens of Lawrence, through a 
committee, again addressed the United States Marshal, in the 
words of the following letter : — 

*' Lawrence, K. T., May 17, 1856. 
**L B. DONALSON, U. S. Marshal of K. T. 

*' Dear Sir: We desire to call your attention, as citizens of Kansas, 
to the fact that a large force of armed men have collected in the 
vicinity of Lawrence, and are engaged in committing depredations 
upon our citizens; stopping wagons, arresting, threatening and robbing 
unoffending travellers upon the highway, breaking open boxes of 
merchandise, and appropriating their contents ; have slaughtered 
cattle, and terrified many of the women and children. 

'* We have also learned from Governor Shannon, * that there are no 
armed forces in the vicinity of this place but the regularly constituted 
militia of the territory — this is to ask if you recognise them as your 
posse, and feel responsible for their acts. If you do not, we hope and 
trust you will prevent a repetition of such acts, and give peace to 
the settlers. " On behalf of the citizens, 

*'C. W. Babcock, 
*'Lymax Allen, 
"J. A. Perry." 

To this communication no reply was given. In the mean 
time, preparations were going forward, and vigorously prose- 
cuted, for the sacking of Lawrence. The pro-slavery people 
were to ^' wipe out'' this ill-fated town under authority of law. 
They had received the countenance of the president — the ap- 
probation of the chief justice — the favorable presentment of 
the grand jury — the concurrence of the governor — the or- 
F 



82 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

ders of the marslial, — and were prepared to consummate their 
purpose with the arms of the government, in the hands of a 
militia force gathered from the remotest sections of the 
Union. 

The J concentrated their troops in large numbers around the 
doomed city, stealing, or, as they termed it, '^pressing into 
the service,'^ all the horses they could find belonging to free^ 
state men, whose cattle were also slaughtered, without remune- 
ration, to feed the marshars forces; and their stores and 
dwellings broken open and robbed of arms, provisions, blankets 
and clothing. And all this under the pretence of ^^ law and 
order,'' and in the name and under the sanction of the govern- 
ment of the United States. 

The marshal's army had a gallant host of commanders. 
There was General Atchison, with the Missouri Platte County 
Rifles, and two pieces of artillery; Captain Dunn, with the 
Kickapoo Rangers ; General Stringfellow, and Colonel Abel, 
his law-partner, aided by Doctor John H. Stringfellow and 
Robert S. Kelly, editors of the Squatter Sovereign, with the 
forces from Doniphan, Atchison and Leavenworth ; Colonel 
Boone, with sundry aids, at the head of companies from West- 
port, Liberty and Independence; Colonels Wilkes and Bu- 
ford, with the Carolinians, Georgians and Mississippians; 
Colonel H. T. Titus, in command of the Douglas County Mi- 
litia; and many others, too numerous to mention. 

The heart of the marshal must have swelled with triumph- 
ant pride when he looked upon this posse comitatuSj compris- 
ing in all not less than eight hundred warlike men. The 
governor must have reviewed them with that satisfaction 
which governors only can feel when about to accomplish a 
mighty undertaking, with the certainty of success. This pa- 
triotic host was about to engage in an enterprise that was to 
redound to their everlasting glory — one of the most noble ac- 
tions that ever called warriors to the field of battle. But 
where, all this time, was Sheriff Jones, the life and spirit and 
power of all this chivalric host? Why had he not made his 
appearance, to encourage with his presence, and cheer with 
his voice and smiles, these patriotic forces ? By some it was 
still supposed that he was either dead or dying of the wound 
in his back. Jones was still behind the scenes. The time 
for his appearance upon the stage had not arrived, and he 
patiently awaited his proper cue. 

On the 19th of May, while these forces were collecting for 



MURDER OF JONES AND STEWART. 83 

the destruction of Lawrence, a yonng man from Illinois, named 
Jones, liad been to a store near Blanton's Bridge, to purchase 
flour, when he was attacked by two of the marshal's party, 
who were out as scouts. To escape these men, Jones dis- 
mounted and entered the store, into which they followed, and 
there abused him. He again mounted his horse and left for 

home, the others following, and swearing that the d d 

abolitionist should not escape. When near the bridge, they 
levelled their guns (United States muskets), and fired. Jones 
fell mortally wounded, and soon expired. 

On the following morning, the 20th, several young men, 
hearing of this transaction, left Lawrence to visit the scene 
of the tragedy. One of these was named Stewart, who had 
but recently arrived from the State of New York. They had 
gone about a mile and a half, when they met two men, armed 
with Sharpens rifles. Some words passed between them, when 
the two strangers raised their rifles, and, taking deliberate 
aim at Stewart, fired. One of the balls entered his temple. 
The work of death was instantly accomplished, and another 
accusing spirit stood before the bar of God. 

Soon after sunrise, on the morning of the 21st, an advanced 
guard of the marshal's army, consisting of about two hundred 
horsemen, appeared on the top of Mount Oread, on the out- 
skirts of the town of Lawrence, where their cannon had been 
stationed late on the preceding night. The town was quiet, 
and the citizens had resolved to submit without resistance to 
any outrage that might be perpetrated. About seven o'clock, 
Doctor Robinson's house, which stood on the side of the hill, 
was taken possession of, and used as the headquarters of the 
invaders. At eight o'clock, the main body of the army posted 
themselves on the outer edge of the town. Deputy Marshal 
Fain, with ten men, entered Lawrence, and, without molesta- 
tion, served the writs in his possession, and arrested Judge 
G. W. Smith and G. W. Deitzler. Fain and his companions 
dined at the free-state hotel, and afterwards returned to the 
army on Mount Oread. The marshal then dismissed his 
monster posse, telling them he had no further use for them. 

It was nearly three o'clock in the afternoon, when suddenly 
another actor appeared upon the stage. The '' dead'' and 
'^ dying," — the immortal Sherifi" Jones,— rode rapidly into 
Lawrence, at the head of twenty-five mounted men ; and as 
lie passed along the line of the troops, he was received with 



84 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

deafening shouts of applause. His presence was tlie signal 
for action, and a sanction for the outrages that ensued. 

Atchison then addressed his forces, in language not suffi- 
ciently well selected for ears polite, and then marched the 
whole column to within a short distance of the hotel, where 
they halted. Jones now informed Col. Eldridg^, the pro- 
prietor, that the hotel must be destroyed; he was acting under 
orders; he had writs issued by the First District Court of the 
United ..States to destroy the Free-State Hotel, and the offices 
of the Herald of Freedom and Free Press. The grand jury 
at Lecompton had indicted them as nuisances, and the court 
had ordered them to be destroyed. He gave Col. Eldridge an 
hour and a half to remove his family and furniture, after 
which time the demolition commenced, and was prosecuted 
with an earnestness that would have done credit to a better 
cause. 

In the mean time the newspaper offices had been assailed, 
the presses broken to pieces, and these, with the type and other 
material, thrown into the Kansas Kiver. The following ex- 
tract from the report of these transactions, given in the columns 
of the Lecompton Union^ the most rabid pro-slavery paper in 
Kansas, the Squatter Sovereign excepted, is too significant 
not to be read with interest : — 

** During this time appeals were made to Sheriff Jones to save the 
Aid Society's Hotel. This news reached the company's ears, and 
was received with one universal cry of 'No I no ! Blow it up ! blow 
it up !' 

"About this time a banner was seen fluttering in the breeze over 
the office of The Herald of Freedom. Its color was a blood-red, with 
a lone star in the centre, and South Carolina above. This banner 
was placed there by the Carolinians — Messrs. Wrights and a Mr. 
Cross. The eifect w^as prodigious. One tremendous and long-con- 
tinued shout burst from the ranks. Thus floated in triumph the 
banner of South Carolina, — that single white star, so emblematic of 
her course in the early history of our sectional disturbances. When 
every southern state stood almost upon the verge of ceding their 
dearest rights to the north, Carolina stood boldly out, the firm and 
unwavering advocate of southern institutions. 

" Thus floated victoriously the first banner of southern rights over 
the abolition town of Lawrence, unfurled by the noble sons of Caro- 
lina, and every whip of its folds seemed a death-stroke to Beecher 
propagandism and the fanatics of the east. ! that its red folds 
could have been seen by every southern eye! 

" Mr. Jones listened to the many entreaties, and finally replied that 
it was beyond his power to do anything, and gave the occupants so 
long to remove all private property from it. He ordered two com- 



SACKING OF LAWRENCE. 8o 

pnnies into each printing office to destroy the press. Both presses 
"were broken up and thrown into the street, the type thrown in the 
river, and all the material belonging to each office destroyed. After 
this was accomplished, and the private property removed from the 
hotel by the different companies, the cannon were brought in front 
of the house and directed their destructive blows upon the walls. 
The building caught on fire, and soon its walls came with a crash to 
the ground. Thus fell the abolition fortress ; and we hope this will 
teach the Aid Society a good lesson for the future.'''' 

"Whilst the work of destruction was going on at the printing- 
offices, the bombardment of the hotel, a strongly constructed 
three-story stone buildiog, commenced. Kegs of gunpowder 
had been placed inside and the house fired in numerous places; 
and whilst the flames were doing their destructive work within, 
heavy cannon were battering against the walls without ; and 
amid the crackling of the conflagration, the noise of falling 
walls and timbers, and the roar of the artillery, were mingled 
the almost frantic yells of satisfaction that constantly burst 
from the ^^ law and order'' lovers of Kansas Territory. Jones 
himself was in ecstasies. He sat upon his horse, contemplating 
the havoc he was makings, and rubbing his hands with wild 
delight, exclaimed : '^This is the happiest day of my life. I 
determined to make the fanatics bow before me in the dust^ 
and kiss the territorial laws; and I have done it — by G — d^ 
I have -done it I'' 

And then followed scenes of reckless pillage and wanton 
destruction in all parts of that ill-fated town. Stores were 
broken into and plundered of their contents. Bolts and bars 
were no obstacles to the entrance of drunken and infuriated 
men into private dwellings, from which most of the inhabi- 
tants had fled in terror. From these everything of value was 
stolen, and much that was useless to the marauders was de- 
stroyed. 

The closing act of this frightful drama was the burning of 
the house of Dr. Eobinson on the brow of Mount Oread. 
This was set on fire after the sun had gone down, and the 
bright light which its flames shed over the country illuminated 
the paths of the retreating army, as the;^ proceeded toward 
their homes, pillaging houses, stealing horses, and violating 
the persons of defenceless women. Ail these dreadful deeds 
were don* by human authority. There is yet an account to ^" 
render to a Higher Power ! 

During the perpetration of these atrocities, one of the pro- 
slavery intruders accidentally shot himself on Mount Oread, 



86 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

anotlier was killed by tlie falling of a brick from the free-state 
hotelj and a third had his leg crushed and broken by falling 
from his horse when gallopping in pursuit of an unoffending 
man^ whom he had mistaken for Governor Reeder. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Murderous assault on a pro-slavery company. — Captain John Brown. — 
The Potawattomie murders. — Outrages of Captain Pate atOsawattomie. — 
Battle of Palmyra. — Fight at Franklin. — General Whitfield's army. — 
Colonel Sumner disperses the contending armies. — Murder of Cantral. — 
Sacking of Osawattomie. — The murder of Gay, an Indian agent, — Out- 
rages at Leavenworth and on the Missouri River. 

After the sacking of Lawrence, parties of free-state men 
were organized and armed with the determination to continue 
the war which had now begun in earnest. Some of these 
committed depredations upon theij" political opponents under 
the pretence of recovering horses and other property of which 
themselves and neighbors had been robbed. They attacked 
the pro-slavery men in the roads and at their dwellings, and 
committed most flagrant outrages. These organizations and 
their actions were condemned by the prominent and more 
respectable portions of the free-state party, and very few of the 
actual settlers of the territory had any lot or part in their pro- 
ceedings. They were chiefly composed of men of desperate 
fortunes, who were actuated in many instances as much by a 
disposition to plunder as from a spirit of retaliation and revenge 
for insults and injuries they had received. 

A detachment of one of these parties, eight in number, 
secreted themselves in a ravine near the Santa Fe road, where 
they laid in wait for a company of eighteen pro-slavery men 
who they had understood were coming in that direction on 
a marauding expedition, and as they approached, a fire was 
poured into them from their ambushed enemies, killing three 
and wounding several more. The remainder, not knowing the 
strength of their assailants, fled in dismay. Other instances 
of the kind were constantly occurring. Indeed, it seemed as 
though each party was determined to vie with the other in the 
number of outrages it could commit. 

Captain John Brown^ who lived near Osawattomie^ was the 



CAPTAIN JOHN BROWN. 87 

leader of one of these free-state guerilla bands. He was a 
Vermcnter by birth^ an old soldier, and bad served through 
the war of 1812. He was a resolute, determined and brave 
old man; but fierce, passionate, revengeful and inexorable. 
His hatred for the border-ruffians had reached so high a degree, 
that he could emulate the worst of them in acts of cruelty, 
whilst not one among them was his equal as a tactician, or pos- 
sessed as much courage and daring. Hence his name soon 
became a terror, and not a few unsuccessful attempts were made 
to effect his capture. 

Old Brown, as he was familiarly called, is said to have been 
the leader of a band, who on the night of the 26th of May, 
attacked a pro-slavery settlement at Potawattomie, and cruelly 
murdered a Mr. Doyle and his two sons, Mr. Wilkinson and 
Wm. Sherman. The excuse given for this act, is, that the 
persons killed were there assembled to assassinate and burn the 
houses of certain free-state men, whom they had notified to 
quit the neighborhood. These five men were seized and dis- 
armed, a sort of trial was had, and in conformity with the 
sentence passed, were shot in cold blood. This was doubtless 
an act of retaliation for the work done but a few days before 
at Lawrence. 

Captain H. C. Pate, who was in command of a predatory 
band of about sixty Missourians, called '^Shannon^s Sharp 
Shooters,^' resolved to capture Capt. John Brown, and with this 
intent visited Osawattomie on the last day of May. Old Brown 
was absent, and Captain Pate succeeded without resistance, in 
taking prisoners two of his sons, whom he found engaged in their 
peaceful occupations. Captain Pate's men burned the store of a 
German named Winer, who was supposed to have been in the 
Potawattomie affair, and also the house of young John Brown, 
the captain^ s son. After committing these and other depre- 
dations upon the free-state settlers, the most of whose houses 
they entered and robbed. Pate and his company left the place, 
taking with them their prisoners. These they delivered to a 
company of United States dragoons, whom they found en- 
camped on the Middle Ottawa Creek. 

When Captain Brown learned of the visit of Pate, he gath- 
ered a company of about thirty men, and hastening in pursuit, 
overtook him on the 2d of June, near Palmyra, about fifteen 
miles from Lawrence. 

Pate was encamped when Brown appeared, and having been 
informed of his approach, had fortified his camp by drawing 



88 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

together some heavy wagons. Brown soon made his arrange- 
ments, and notwithstanding the disparity of their forces, com- 
menced the attack, when a spirited battle ensued. This lasted 
about three hours, when Captain Pate sent out a flag of truce, 
and unconditionally surrendered. Some of his men had ridden 
off during the fight, as was also the case with some of Brown's 
command. Several were severely wounded on both sides, but 
none were killed. Brown took thirty-one prisoners, a large 
number of horses, some wagons, arms, munitions, and a con- 
siderable amount of plunder that had been seized at various 
places by Patens men. Soon after the surrender of Pate, Brown 
was reinforced by a Captain Abbott, with a company of fifty 
men from the Wakarusa, who had come to his assistance. 

Whilst Brown was in pursuit of Captain Pate with the free- 
state men from Osawattomie, other parties from Lawrence and 
the Wakarusa were planning an attack on Franklin, where a 
number of the pro-slavery rangers had remained since the 
sacking of Lawrence. Franklin is about four miles from the 
latter town, near the Wakarusa, and on the road to Westport. 
It was a sort of Missouri head-quarters, where the forces were 
accustomed to assemble whenever a descent upon Lawrence was 
contemplated. Having settled the preliminaries to their sat- 
isfaction, a company of the attacking party entered Franklin 
about two o'clock on the morning of June 4th. The night 
was extremely dark, and everything in and about the town was 
wrapped in the most profound stillness. Yet the pro-slavery 
forces had been apprised of the intended visit, and were pre- 
pared to give the intruders a warm reception. The latter, 
numbering about fifteen men, proceeded directly to the guard 
house and demanded a surrender, which was answered by the 
discharge of a cannon planted in the door, that had been loaded 
heavily with every imaginable sort of missile that could be 
crammed into its muzzle. The noise of the explosion was like 
the loud roar of thunder in the very midst of the town. For- 
tunately for the assailants, the gun was not properly pointed, 
and its infernal contents passed harmless over their heads. 
Then came on the battle. A volley from the Sharpe's rifles of 
the free-state men was poured into the guard-room door, simul- 
taneously with which, many shots came down from the neigh- 
boring houses. The attacking party threw themselves upon 
the ground, and without any regular order, kept up a random 
fire as rapidly as they could load their pieces, their enemies 
constantly returning their shots. In the meantime, reinforce- 



BATTLE OF FRANKLIN. 89 

ments had entered tlie town, but in consequence of the extreme 
darkness and the uncertainty of the positions of the contend- 
ing forces, they could take no part in the fight, not being able 
to distinguish their foes from their friends. They nevertheless 
made the best of their time, having broken into the stores and 
loaded their wagon, which had been brought for the purpose, 
with ammunition, rifles, guns, provisions and such other articles 
as they desired, the greater part of which were Buford's stores, 
previously captured from free-state people. The firing con- 
tinued on both sides until nearly daylight, when the pro-slavery 
men retired, leaving their enemies in possession of the town. 
In this affair a pro-slavery man named Teschmaker was killed, 
and three or four wounded. One man had his ear shot off. 
The assailants received no injury whatever. One remarkable 
feature in all these Kansas battles, is, that although many 
persons were sometimes engaged, who fought with passions 
inflamed to the most violent pitch, the loss on either side was 
almost invariably quite insignificant. Those who suffered death 
were generally murdered, not in the heat of battle, but delibe- 
rately and in cold blood, when the fights were over. 

General Whitfield, in the meantime, had collected a large 
force, chiefly from Jackson county, Mo., with which, accompa- 
nied by General Reid, and other prominent members of his 
party, professedly to relieve Captain Pate, and attack and 
capture Brown, he entered the territory and encamped near 
Palmyra. Whilst this army was assembling, the free- state bands 
were also concentrating and mo^dng towards the same neigh- 
borhood. 

These latter, says one of their own writers, ^^ were a harum- - 
scarum set, as brave as steel, mostly mere boys, and did not 
consider it a sin to ^ press' a pro-slavery man's horse. At 
various times they have made more disturbance than all other 
free-state men together. They were under no particular re- 
straint, and did not recognise any authority — military, civil, or 
otherwise — any further than suited their convenience. While 
they went around the country skirmishing, and carrying on 
the war against the pro-slavery men on their own hook, and in 
their own time and way, they were at the sam^ time quite 
willing to lend a hand in more systematic and important fight- 
ing when there was an opportunity. These boys have been 
most bitterly maligned, and the free-state men, or conservative 
free-state men, were not slow to denounce them. Besolutions 
were passed by the sensitively moral free-state p^ple, or the 
8 * 



90 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

sensitively timidj declaring that these daring young guerillas 
were a nuisance, and that they, the conservative class, did not 
wish to be held responsible for them. To all this moralizing 
these young braves turned up their noses, ironically recom- 
mending all who were too cowardly to fight to ' keep right on 
the record/ For their own part, they regarded the war as 
begun, and would wage it against the pro-slavery men as the 
pro-slavery men waged it against their free-state friends/' 

This was the state of affairs near Hickory Point on the 
morning of the 5th of June. Whitfield was encamped behind 
Palmyra with near three hundred men. The free-state camps 
mustered, or mustering, on that day, were about two hundred 
strong, and two companies were marching from Topeka with 
fifty more, who arrived the day after. 

The governor, in view of this condition of things, issued a 
proclamation on the 4th, ^' commanding all persons belonging 
to military companies unauthorized by law to disperse, other- 
wise they would be dispersed by the United States troops." 
Col. Sumner, at the head of a large force of dragoons, pro- 
ceeded towards Hickory Point to enforce the order. He went 
directly to the camp of Brown, on Ottawa Creek, who con- 
sented to disband, but not until he was assured by Sumner 
that Whitfield's army should be dispersed. Pate and the 
other prisoners were then set at liberty, and their horses, arms, 
and other property restored. Captain Pate received a severe 
rebuke for invading the territory without authority, and es- 
pecially for being in possession of the United States arms. 
Col. Sumner next visited the camp of Whitfield, who pro- 
mised to return with his men to Missouri, and at once moved 
down the Santa Fe road, and encamped about five miles below 
Palmyra on the Black Jack. 

Early on the following morning, June 6th, this army sepa- 
rated into two divisions, one half of it under General Reid, 
with Captain Pate, Bell, Jenigen, and other prominent lead- 
ers, moving towards Osawattomie, whilst the others, under 
Whitfield, started for Westport. They had, in their march on 
the day previous, taken several prisoners, and before they 
divided, held a court among themselves and tried one of these, 
a free-state man named Cantral, whom they sentenced to death, 
carried into a deep ravine near by, and shot. His body was 
subsequently found, with three bullet holes in the breast. 
The executioner in this case is said to have been a man named 
FormaU; of Pate's company; belonging to W^estport; Missouri. 



MURDER OF a AY. SI 

On tte 7th, Reid^ with one hundred and seventy men, 
marched into Osawattomie, and without resistance, entered 
each house, robbing it of everything of value. There were 
but few men in the town, and the women and children were 
treated with the utmost brutality. Stores and dwellings were 
alike entered . and pillaged. Trunks, boxes, and desks were 
broken open, and their contents appropriated or destroyed. 
Even rings were rudely pulled from the ears and fingers of the 
women, and some of the apparel from their persons. The 
liquor found was freely drunk, and served to incite the plun- 
derers to increased violence in the prosecution of their mis- 
chievous work. Having completely stripped the town, they 
set fire to several houses, and then beat a rapid retreat, carry- 
ing off a number of horses, and loudly urging each other to 
greater haste, as ^Hhe d — d abolitionists were coming!'' 

There are hundreds of well authenticated accounts of fefee 
cruelties practised by this horde of rufl&ans, some of them too 
shocking and disgusting to relate, or to be accredited, if told. 
The tears and shrieks of terrified women, folded in their foul 
embrace, failed to touch a chord of mercy in their brutal 
hearts, and the mutilated bodies of murdered men, hanging 
upon the trees, or left to rot upon the prairies or in the deep 
ravines, or furnish food for vultures and wild beasts, told 
frightful stories of brutal ferocity from which the wildest 
savages might have shrunk with horror. 

On the 21st of June, an Indian agent, named Gay, was tra- 
velling in the vicinity of Westport, and was stopped by a party 
of Buford's men, who asked if he was in favor of making 
Kansas a free-state. He promptly answered in the affirma- 
tive, and was instantly shot dead. Such was the only crime 
for which this soul was hurried into the eternal world. 

Whilst these events were transpiring on the south side of 
the Kansas river. Col. Wilkes, Captain Emory, and other pro- 
minent pro-slavery men, were actively employed in persecuting 
the free-state citizens of Leavenworth. Notices were served 
on them to quit the city; some were violently seized and im- 
prisoned, and still others carried to the levee, having been de- 
prived of all .their property and the greater part of their 
clothing, placed on board of steamers, and thus compelled to 
leave the country. At the same time the steamboats coming 
up the river continued to be boarded at every stopping place, 
the free-state passengers insulted, their trunks broken open 
and robbed, and their arms taken from them ; after which 
they were put upon return boats, and forced to go back. 



92 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Removal of Colonel Sumner and appointment of General P. F. Smith. — 
Free-state refugees driven from Fort Leavenworth. — Immigration from 
the North. — Destruction of pro-slavery forts by free-state bands. — Mur- 
der of Major Hoyt. — Defeat of the pro-slavery forces at Franklin. — 
Colonel Titus captured by Captain Walker, and his house burned. — Alarm 
at Lecompton. — Governor Shannon makes another treaty with the Law- 
rence people. 

Col. Sumner, in consequence of the strict impartiality with 
which he discharged his duties, failed to give satisfaction to 
the pro-slavery party, who having all the official power in 
HSnsas, backed up by still greater power at Washington, had 
no difficulty in effecting his removal from the territory. He 
was superseded in July, 1856, by General Persifer F. Smith, 
whose quarters were at Fort Leavenworth. The general was 
born in Pennsylvania, but has spent much of his time in Loui- 
siana, and is decidedly a pro-slavery man in feeling and senti- 
ment. His appointment was highly gratifying to those who 
had so strongly desired to get rid of Sumner. Soon after his 
arrival. General Smith, whose health had been failing for some 
time, became quite ill, and until the time that he left Kansas 
in February, 1857, was closely confined to his apartments, so 
that he was not able to take any active part in the affairs of 
the territory. Hence, after the removal of Shannon on the 
21st of August, when Secretary Woodson became acting 
governor, until the arrival of Governor Geary in September, 
the belligerents had matters pretty much their own way, and 
the ruffians improved the time, under pretence of authority 
from Woodson, to perpetrate with impunity the 'most shock- 
ing barbarities. During this period Gen. Smith received much 
censure from the free-state people. Emory, Wilkes, Stringfel- 
low, and others, were driving these from their homes at Leaven- 
worth and other places, and many of them hastily fled in terror 
for protection within the enclosures of the fort; when the 
general caused hand-bills to be posted over the grounds com- 
manding them to leave before a certain specified time, and 
gave orders to his subordinates to enforce this command. These 
unfortunate people, among whom were men of the highest re- 
spectability, and even women and children, were compelled, 



DESTRUCTION OF PRO-SLAYERY FORTS. 93 

some of them without money or suitable clothing, to take to 
the prairies, exposed at every step to the danger of being 
murdered by scouting or marauding parties, or at the risk of 
their lives, effect their escape upon the downward bound boats. 
Some of these were shot in the attempt upon the river banks, 
whilst others were seized at Kansas City and other Missouri 
towns, brought back as prisoners, and disposed of in such a 
manner as will only be made known at that great day when all 
human mysteries will be revealed. There is many an unhappy 
wife and mother in the states looking anxiously, and hoping 
against hope, for the return of an adventurous husband or 
son, whose bones are bleaching upon the prairies or mouldering 
beneath their sod. 

In August the troubles had reached their culminating point. 
The free-state immigrants had opened a new route into the 
territory through Nebraska and Iowa, and large and well-armed 
companies came pouring in, many of them of irreproachable 
character, who came to the relief of the oppressed ; and others 
of desperate fortunes, eager to take part in the disturbances 
from a spirit of revenge or a love of the excitement ; and still 
others, perhaps, for the sole purpose of plunder. These bands 
were generally under the direction of Lane, Redpath, Perry, 
and other prominent free-state leaders. 

The pro-slavery marauders south of the Kansas River had 
established and fortified themselves at the town of Franklin ; 
at a fort thrown up near Osawattomie ; at another on Wash- 
ington Creek, twelve miles from Lawrence; and at Colonel 
Titus's house, on the border of Lecompton. From these 
strongholds they would sally forth, ^^ press'' horses and cattle, 
intercept the mails, rob stores and dwellings, plunder travellers, 
burn houses, and destroy crops. 

The fort near Osawattomie, in consequence of outrages 
committed in the neighborhood, and at the solicitation of the 
settlers, was attacked by a company of free-state men from 
Lawrence, on the 5th of August. A party of Georgians who 
held this position, upon the approach of the enemy, fled 
without firing a gun, leaving behind a large quantity of plun- 
der. The fort was then taken and demolished. 

The defeated party retreated to the fort at Washington 
Creek, and thence continued their depredations upon the 
neighboring inhabitants. On the 11th the people of Lawrence 
sent Major D. S. Hoyt, a peaceable man, who was greatly re- 
spected, to this camp to endeavor to make some sort ofarmica- 



94 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

ble arrangement witli Colonel Treadwell, the commander. On 
his way home he was waylaid and shot^ his body being fairly 
riddled with bullet holes. 

This news so enraged the people of Lawrence, that on the 
12th they attacked the pro-slavery post at Franklin. The 
enemy was strongly fortified in a block-house, and had one 
brass six-pounder. This battle lasted three hours, and was 
conducted with great spirit on both sides. The free-state men, 
at length, drew a wagon load of hay against the house, and were 
about to set it on fire wheu the inmates cried for quarter. 
They then threw down their arms and fled. In this engage- 
ment the free-state men had one killed and six wounded. The 
other side had four severely wounded, one of them mortally. 
The cannon taken was one that had been used to batter down 
the walls of the Lawrence hotel. 

A general panic seized the Missouri and other southern 
intruders on learning these repeated free-state successes. On 
the 15th the Georgian camp at Washington Creek broke up in 
great confusion, its occupants flying in hot haste as the Law- 
rence forces approached. This fort was entered without re- 
sistance; large quantities of provisions and goods taken at 
Lawrence were recovered ; the building was set on fire and en- 
tirely consumed. 

The next blow was struck at Colonel Titus's fortified house, 
near Lecompton. This was one of the boldest strokes of the 
Kansas war. Lecompton was the stronghold of the pro-slavery 
party. It was the capital of the territory, the headquarters 
of Governor Shannon, and within two miles of the house of 
Titus a large force of United States dragoons was encajnped. 
Captain Samuel Walker, a Pennsylvanian, and as brave a man 
as ever lived, commanded the attacking army. With about 
four hundred men and one brass six-pounder, he took up a 
position upon an elevated piece of ground near the house soon 
after sunrise on the morning of the 16th of August. The 
fight, which was a spirited one, immediately commenced, and 
" resulted in the capture of Titus, Captain William Donaldson, 
(who also had rendered himself notorious at the sacking of 
Lawrence and elsewhere), and of eighteen others. Five prisoners, 
previously taken by Titus's party, were released, one of whom 
had been sentenced to be shot that very day. One of his men 
was killed in this engagement and several others wounded. 
Titus was shot in the shoulder and hand. W^alker's cannon 
was loaded with slugs and balls cast from the type of the 



CAPTURE OF COLONEL TITUS. 95 

Herald of Freedom, fislied out of tlie K^sas Eiver, where it 
had been thrown on the day that Lawrence was sacked. Walker 
set fire to the house of Titus, which was completely destroyed, 
and carried his prisoners to Lawrence. 

The time occupied by this battle was greatly magnified by 
Titus in his account of the affair, as he maintains that he held 
out for six hours, and did not surrender until a wagon load of 
hay was brought up to burn the building. He says that he 
came out to capitulate with Walker when he received his 
wounds. On the other hand. Walker thinks the action lasted 
short of half an hour, which was also the opinion of Woodson, 
whose house was but half a mile distant, and of Major Sedg- 
wick, of the United States dragoons, who hastened to the 
rescue as soon as he heard the firing, but did not reach the 
scene of action until the assailants had retired. Walker also 
states that Titus was found hid under the floor when his party 
surrendered. 

Nothing could exceed the consternation that prevailed in 
Lecompton during this engagement. A universal stampede 
succeeded the firing of the first gun. The stoutest and most noisy 
boasters of the town rushed to the river, some on foot and 
others on horseback, and in their fright and hurry jumped 
into the water to swim across. Grovernor Shannon, when 
Major Sedgwick arrived, was sought for, and after considerable 
difl&culty was found concealed in the bushes on the river bank. 
He was prevailed upon to accompany the dragoons in pursuit 
of Walker, and after proceeding a few miles, he saw him and 
his army leisurely crossing the prairies. Major Sedgwick 
asked for orders to make an attack and rescue the prisoners. 
But the governor, looking at the formidable force before him, 
thought it better not to venture an engagement, and gave 
orders for an immediate return to Lecompton. 

He thence proceeded to the house of General George W. 
Clarke, a short distance from the capital, to ascertain whether 
that had also suffered damage. He found that the general 
had rapidly fled with his family, not taking time to remove an 
article or even to fasten or close his doors. Ever since the 
murder of Barber, Clarke has evinced an almost painful ner- 
vousness. He is exceedingly restless, and terribly alarmed at 
the slightest appearance of danger. Is it the ghost of the 
murdered man haunting the guilty soul ? His house was for- 
tified, a large number of arms collected there, and guards 
stationed durino: the nio:hts. He was in everlasting fear of an 



96 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

attack from some unknown source. On one occasion, his wife 
had sent for a party of neighbors to protect them from some 
imaginary danger. It was dark when they arrived. Clarke 
hearing them coming, rushed out of the back door with a 
loaded gun, fired it at the party, and lodged its contents in 
the leg of one of his own friends. This is his statement of 
the affair. Others assert that he accidentally wounded his 
friend in an attempt to shoot a free-state man. 

Titus had been one of the most active of the assailants in 
the sacking of Lawrence. On that occasion he rode through 
,the town, giving his orders in a loud voice, and urging on his 
men to the work of destruction. When Walker brought him 
into that town, a wounded prisoner, he compelled Titus to sit 
up in the wagon and look around him, and as he carried him 
past the ruined buildings, would stop and ask him to contem- 
plate his work. At length, when they reached the spot where 
the hotel had stood, Titus was informed that they intended to 
put him to death, when no man ever supplicated more pitifully 
to be spared. After being sufficiently tormented, he was con- 
veyed to a place of confinement and attention given to his 
wounds. Captain Shombre, of the free -state party, was 
wounded in the attack upon Titus, and died on the evening of 
the 17th of August. 

On that day, it being Sunday, Governor Shannon, Dr. 
Rodrique and Major Sedgwick, visited Lawrence, as a com- 
mittee from Lecompton, to make a treaty; when the terms 
submitted to must have been most humiliating to his excel- 
lency. It was agreed that no more arrests should be made of 
free-state people under the territorial laws; that five free-state 
men arrested after the attack on Franklin should be set at 
liberty; and that the howitzer taken by Jones from Lawrence, 
should be restored; upon which degrading conditions, Titus 
and his band were released, and permitted to return to Le- 
compton. 



SCALPING OF MB. HOPPE. 97 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Atcliit5on and Stringf^llow call on Missourians for assistance. — Mr. Hoppe 
and a teamster scalped. — A German murdered at Leavenworth. — Out- 
rages upon a young female. — Shannon removed, and "Woodson acting- 
governor. — Atchison concentrates an army at Little Santa Fe. — General 
L. A. Maclean his commissary. — He robs the settlers and the United 
States mails. — Reid attacks Brown at Osawattomie, who retreats and 
the town is sacked and destroyed. — Murder of Frederick Brown and 
insanity of his brother John. — Lane drives Atchison into Missouri. — 
Outrages at the Quaker Mission. — Burning of free-state houses. — Lane 
threatens Lecompton. — Dead bodies found and buried. — Captain Emory 
murders Philips, and drives free-state residents from Leavenworth. 

Information of tlie occurrences related in the foregoing 
cliapter, soon reached the prominent leaders of the slavery 
faction, who lost no time in spreading them out before the 
people of Missouri, with any amount of exaggeration. On the 
16th of August, Atchison and Stringfellow issued a circular 
at Westport, stating that Lane had entered Kansas at the 
head of a large army, had taken Lecompton, conquered the 
dragoons, liberated the treason prisoners, and committed other 
great and daring deeds; and concluding by calling upon the 
border ruffians for men and arms to drive the invaders from 
the territory. 

On the 17th, a shocking affair occurred in the neighbor- 
hood of Leavenworth. Two ruffians sat at a table in a low 
groggery, imbibing potations of bad whiskey. One of them, 
named Fugert, belonging to Atchison's band, bet his compa- 
nion six dollars against a pair of boots, that he would go out, 
and in less than two hours bring in the scalp of an abolitionist. 
He went into the road, and meeting a Mr. Hoppe, who was in 
his carriage just returning to Leavenworth from a visit to 
Lawrence, where he had conveyed his wife, Fugert deliberately 
shot him; then taking out his bowie-knife whilst his victim 
was still alive, he cut and tore off the scalp from his quivering 
head. Leaving the body of Hoppe lying in the road, he 
elevated his bloody trophy upon a pole, and paraded it through 
the streets of Leavenworth, amid the shouts of the '^ law and 
order'' militia, and the plaudits of some who are denominated 
the noblest specimens of '^ southern chivalry,'' and regarded 
as men of respectability. On the same day, a teamster, who 
9 G 



98 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

was approacliing Leavenwortli, was murdered and scalped by 
another human monster. 

A poor German, when the scalp of Hoppe was brought into 
Tveavenworth, was imprudent enough to express his horror of 
the shocking deed, when he was ordered to run for his life, 
in attempting which a number of bullets sped after hira, and 
he fell dead in the street. The pro-slavery men aided Fugert 
to escape from the territory by sending him down the river, 
and furnishing him with money. He wore, upon his depar- 
ture, the boots he so nobly won. 

On the following day, a young lady of Bloomington was 
dragged from her home by a party of merciless wretches, and 
carried a mile or more into the country, when her tongue was 
pulled as far as possible from her mouth and tied with a cord. 
Her arms were then securely pinioned, and, despite her vio- 
lent and convulsive struggles but let the reader imagine, 

if possible, the savage brutality that followed. She had been 
guilty of the terrible oifence of speaking adversely of the insti- 
tution of slavery. 

August 2\st. — Governor Shannon receiving official notice 
of his removal, Secretary Woodson took charge of the govern- 
ment. This was a signal for great rejoicing among the pro- 
slavery people. Woodson was a creature of their own, and 
they felt assured that they would now be endowed with legal 
authority to continue the acts of rapine that had previously 
been committed without the shadow of law. The acting go- 
vernor came up to all their expectations. He forthwith issued 
a proclamation, declaring the territory in a state of rebellion 
and insurrection, and called for help from Missouri, to drive 
out and exterminate the destroyers of the public peace. Atchi- 
son and Stringfellow soon responded to this call, and concen- 
trated an army of eleven hundred men at Little Santa Fe, on 
the Missouri border. 

General L. A. Maclean, chief clerk of Surveyor-General 
Calhoun, who subsequently served as adjutant- general under 
Brigadier-General Heiskell in the contemplated attack upon 
Lawrence, of September 1856, -was the commissary of this 
invading army. He delights to boast of the skilful manner 
in which he performed his duties. 

In the office of Governor Geary, on the morning of February 
24th, ] 857, Maclean, who was disposed at certain times to be 
loquacious, was in one of his vaporing moods, and the gover- 
nor's private secretary, who appeared to be pursuing his usual 



COMMISSARY MACLEAN. 99 

avocation, took notes of a conversation, of wliicli tlie following 
is a part : — 

Maclean. — I was lying in my tent, one night, on the 
broad of my back, smoking my pipe, aod enjoying myself 
over a bottle of good whiskey, when Generals E,eid and 
S trickier, and several other officers, entered, apparently in 
great distress. They said they had over a thousand men to 

feed, and not a d d ounce of rations for the next day. After 

much talk, I consented to act as commissary. They wanted 
me to get up and go to work, but I kept my place, as though 
utterly unconcerned, and continued to whiff away at my pipe; 
telling them that the rations would all be ready at an ap- 
pointed hour in the morning. They didn't know what to . 
make of my coolness — thought I was either drunk or crazy, 
and went off somewhat disappointed and evidently vexed. 

Grov. G-EARY. — Well, were the rations ready? 

Maclean. — Yes, by G-d ! Ready that morning, and 
every other, so long as we were in camp, about two weeks. 

Governor. — But how did you manage it? 

Maclean. — That was d d easy. I was up before day- 
light ; got out a number of wagons, and started parties in 
every direction, with orders to go to the stores and dwellings, 
get all the provisions they could find, and drive in all the 
cattle ; and they returned with a pretty generous supply. 

Governor. — How did you raise the funds to pay for aU 
this ? 

Maclean. — Funds ! by G-d, we didn't pay a d d cent! 

We ^^ pressed'^ it all 1 In these expeditions, which were con- 
tinued every day, we got some useful informadpn, too. We 
seized the mails going to and from Osawatt^pe, and more 
than a half bushel of letters fell into my hands, in examining 
which, I found many" of them directed to, and others written 
by, some of the most wealthy and influential citizens of Bos- 
ton and other parts of the northern and eastern states. 

Maclean is a Scotchman, and has been but a short time in 
America. He is over six feet high, and proportionably stout ; 
is the constant companion of Sheriff Jones, General Clarke, 
and others of that class, and is among the most prominent of 
the Kansas mischief-makers. He may always be found in the 
Lecompton post-office, at the opening and closing of the mails, 
and generally manages to acquaint himself with their contents, 
for the benefit of his party. He makes inflammatory speeches 
at pro-slavery meetings ; is extremely violent in denunciations 



100 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

of free-state men; always urging others to unlawful and 
atrocious acts ; but never venturing to place his own person 
in the place of danger. 

A detachment of Atchison's army, under General Reid, 
numbering about three hundred men, with one piece of artil- 
lery, attacked Osawattomie on the 30th of August. Brown 
was in command at the time, and^ having only between thirty 
and forty men, he retreated to the timber on the river or 
creek known as the Marais Des Cygnes. The battle which 
ensued lasted about three hours. Brown having a decided ad- 
vantage. He was overpowered, however, by superior num- 
bers and driven to the river, in crossing which he suffered 
some loss from the enemy. Two free-state men were killed 
in this fight ; but the loss of the other party was much greater, 
though its precise amount has never been ascertained. It has 
been stated that more than thirty men were killed and as 
many wounded, but this is probably an exaggeration. It was 
the most disastrous battle during the Kansas war. 

After the retreat of Brown, Reid's forces burned some 
twenty or thirty houses, robbed the post-office and stores, took 
possession of all the horses, cattle and wagons in the town, 
and committed many other depredations. They found a man 
named Garrison concealed in the woods, whom they killed, 
and wounded another by the name of Cutter, whom they sup- 
posed to be dead, but who has since recovered. A Mr. Wil^ 
liams, a pro-slavery man, was murdered by them in mistake. 

Early in the morning, about 6 o'clock, of the same day, 
Frederick Brown, a half-witted young man, and son of old 
Captain Bro\a^ was killed in the road near his father's house, 
by Martin \^i^te, a member from Lykens county of the Kan- 
sas Legislature, and formerly a clergyman. White's own ac- 
count of this transaction, is, that sometime previous. Captain 
Brown had stolen some of his horses, and on the morning of 
his death, Frederick was seen by him, riding one of these 
stolen horses and leading another; that he ordered young 
Brown not to approach or he would shoot him. This warning 
was unheeded, but Brown came on, apparently feeling in his 
breast for a weapon, when he. White, raised his gun, fired, 
and shot him. 

Captain John Brown, Jr., is a maniac in consequence of 
the cruel treatment he received while a prisoner of Pate. 
His arms were so firmly bound with cords as to cut into the 
flesh, in which condition he was compelled to travel in front 



ATCHISON RETREATS. 101 

of tlie horses for a number of miles under a burning sun, and 
often forced to run to keep from under tbe borses' feet. He 
was also kept without food and water. During these suffer- 
ings and privations, his reason forsook him and has never been 
restored. 

On the same day of the battle at Osawattomie, Lane, with 
about three hundred men, marched in pursuit of Atchison, 
who was encamped with the main body of his army on Bull 
Creek. Atchison would not stop to fight, but retreated into 
Missouri; and Lane on the following day returned to Law- 
rence. 

Whilst these things were occurring, a party of pro-slavery 
men entered the Quaker Mission, on the Lawrence road, near 
Westport, plundered it of everything worth carrying away, 
and brutally treated the occupants. At the same time, Wood- 
son's ^territorial militia'^ were amusing themselves by burn- 
ing the houses of the free-state settlers between Lecompton 
and Lawrence. Seven buildings were destroyed, among which 
were the dwellings of Captain Walker and Judge Wakefield. 
The deputy marshal, Cramer, whose features are almost as hard 
as his heart, was one of the most active of these incendiaries. 

Because of these outrages, and the seizure of some free- 
state prisoners, Lane, with a large force, proceeded to Lecomp- 
ton, on September 4th, and before any intimation was received 
by the citizens, his cannon were frowning upon their houses 
from the summit of Court House Hill. General Richardson, 
who was in command of the pro-slavery forces, refused to de- 
fend the town, having no confidence in the courage of the in- 
habitants, who were flying in all directions, in confusion and 
alarm, and he therefore resigned his commission. General 
Marshall being next in command, held a parley with Lane, 
who demanded the liberation of the free-state prisoners. This 
was agreed to. Lane returned to Lawrence, and the next 
day, the prisoners came down with an escort of United States 
dragoons. 

At Leavenworth and vicinity, outrages had been renewed, 
and were being committed, if possible, with increased fero- 
city. As Governor Shannon afterward remarked, '' the roads 
were Hterally strewn with dead bodies.'^ A United States 
officer discovered a number of slaughtered men, thirteen, it is 
stated, lying unburied, who had been seized and brained, some 
of them being shot in the forehead, and others down through 
9* 



102 - HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

the top of tlie skull, whilst some were cut with hatchets and 
their bodies shockingly and disgustingly mutilated. 

On the first of September, Captain Frederick Emory, a 
United States Mail Contractor, rendered himself conspicuous 
in Leavenworth, at the head of a band of ruffians, mostly from 
western Missouri. They entered houses, stores, and dwell- 
ings of free-state people, and, in the name of ^^ law and or- 
der,'^ abused and robbed the occupants, and drove them out 
into the roads, irrespective of age, sex or condition. Under 
pretence of searching for arms, they approached the house of 
William Phillips, the lawyer who had previously been tarred 
and feathered and carried to Missouri. Phillips, supposing he 
was to be subjected to a similar outrage, and resolved not to 
submit to the indignity, stood upon his defence. In repelling 
the assaults of the mob, he killed two of them, when the 
others burst into the house, and poured a volley of balls into 
his body, killing him instantly in the presence of his wife and 
another lady. His brother, who was also present, had an arm 
badly broken with bullets, and was compelled to submit to an 
amputation. Fifty of the free-state prisoners were then driven 
on board the Polar Star, bound for St. Louis. On the next 
day a hundred more were embarked by Emory and his men, 
on the steamboat Emma. During these proceedings, an elec- 
tion was held for Mayor, and William E. Murphy, since ap- 
pointed Indian agent by the President, was elected ^^ without 
opposition.'^ 

At this time civil war raged in all the populous districts. 
Women and children had fled from the territory. The roads 
were impassable. No man's life was safe, and eveiy person, 
when he lay down to rest at night, bolted and barred his 
doors, and fell asleep grasping firmly his pistol, gun or knife. 



APPOINTMENT OP GOV. GEARY. 103 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Appointment of (xovernor Greary. — His departure for Kansas. — Arrival at 
Jefferson City. — Interviews with Governor Price. — Removal of obstruc- 
tions on the Missouri River. — Departure on steamboat Keystone. — 
Scenes at Glasgow. — Captain Jackson's Missouri volunteers. — What 
Reeder did. — Arrival at Kansas City. — Description of Border Ruffians. — 
Who comprise the Abolitionists. — Appearance and condition of Leaven- 
worth City. 

Col. John W. G-eary, of Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- 
vania, received information of his appointment as Governor of 
Kansas in the latter part of July, 1856, and in a few days 
after, was confirmed, without the usual reference to a com- 
mittee, by a unanimous vote of the Senate. He immediately 
hastened to Washington City, to receive instructions and make 
the necessary arrangements, and early in September proceeded 
to take charge of the office to which he had been chosen. He 
reached Jefferson City, Mo., on the 5th of that month, and 
passed the greater portion of the 6th, in consultation with 
Governor Sterling Price, in relation to the policy he was 
about to adopt and the means he purposed to employ to restore 
tranquillity and peace to the territory. Gov. Price coincided 
in his opinions, heartily approved the indicated course, and 
promised such assistance as might be desired and he had the 
power to render. From these considerations and mutual 
understandings, measures were adopted, and successfully car- 
ried out, to remove the obstructions, that until this time 
existed, against the free-state emigrants passing up the Mis- 
souri Eiver on their way to Kansas. In no instance were the 
emigrants subsequently interfered with upon the steamboats on 
the river. 

On the night of Sept. 6th, accompanied by his private secre- 
tary, and several friends. Governor Geary took passage on the 
steam packet Keystone, for Fort Leavenworth, and about noon 
of the 7th, it being Sunday, arrived at Glasgow in Missouri. 
On approaching this town, a most stirring scene was presented. 
The entire population of the city and surrounding neighbor- 
hood was assembled upon the high bank overlooking the 
river, and all appeared to be laboring under a state of extraor- 
dinary excitement. Whites and blacks, — men, women, and 
children, of all ages, were crowded together in one confused 



104 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

mass, or hurrying Mther and yon, as thougli some terrible 
event was about to transpire. A large brass field-piece was 
mounted in a prominent position, and ever and anon belched 
forth a fiery flame and deafened the ear with its thundering 
warlike sounds. When the Keystone touched the landing a 
party of about sixty, comprising Captain Jackson's company 
of Missouri volunteers for the Kansas militia, descended the 
hill, dragging their cannon with them, and ranged themselves 
along the shore ; the captain, after numerous attempts, failing to 
get them into what might properly be termed a line. He got 
them into as good a military position as possible, by backing 
them up against the foot of the hill. They were as raw and 
undisciplined a set of recruits as ever shouldered arms. Their 
ages varied, through every gradation, from the smooth-faced 
half-grown boy to the grey-bearded old man; whilst their 
dresses, which difi'ered as much as their ages, gave unmistak- 
able evidences, that they belonged to any class of society, 
excepting that usually termed respectable. Each one carried 
some description of fire-arm, not two of which were alike. 
There were muskets, carbines, rifles, shot-guns, and pistols of 
every size, quality, shape and style. Some of them were in 
good condition, but others were never intended for use, and 
still others unfit to shoot robins or tomtits. It would have 
been an afflictive sight to witness the numerous friends of this 
patriotic band, shaking them afi'ectionately by the hand and 
pronouncing their blessings and benedictions, had they been 
enlisted in their country's cause, to repel invasion, or battle 
with a foreign foe; but knowing the character of their enter- 
prise, the feeling inspired was anything but one of admiration 
or even sympathy. 

While these parting ceremonies were being performed, a 
steamboat, bound down the river, and directly from Kansas, 
came alongside the Keystone. Ex-governor Shannon was a 
passenger, who, upon learning the close proximity of Governor 
Geary, sought an immediate interview with him. The ex- 
governor was greatly agitated. He had fled in haste and 
terror from the territory, and seemed still to be laboring under 
an apprehension for his personal safety. His description of 
Kansas was suggestive of everything that is frightful and 
horrible. Its condition was deplorable in the extreme. The 
whole territory was in a state of insurrection, and a destructive 
civil war was devastating the country. Murder ran rampant, 
and the roads were everywhere strewn with the bodies of 



KANSAS VOLUNTEERS. 105 

slauglitered men. No language can exaggerate tlie awful 
picture that was drawn; and a man of less nerve than Governor 
Geary, believing it not too highly colored, would instantly 
have taken the backward track, rather than rush upon the 
dangers so eloquently and fearfully portrayed. 

During this interview, Captain Jackson embarked his com- 
pany, cannon, wagons, arms and ammunition on board the 
Keystone, and soon after, she was again on her way. Oppor- 
tunities now occurred for conversation with the volunteers. 
Yery few of them had any definite idea of the nature of the 
enterprise in which they had embarked. The most they 
seemed to understand about the matter, was, that they were 
to receive so much per diem for going to Kansas to hunt and 
kill abolitionists. What this latter word meant they could not 
clearly define. They had been informed that abolitionists 
were enemies to Missouiians, some of whom had been killed, 
and they were hired to revenge their deaths. More than this 
they neither knew nor cared to know. A vague notion pre- 
vailed among them, that whatever an abolitionist was, it was a 
virtue to kill him and take possession of his property. They 
seemed to apprehend no danger to themselves, as they had 
been told the abolitionists would not fight; but being overawed 
by the numbers and warlike appearance of their adversaries, 
would escape as rapidly as possible out of the territory, leaving 
behind them any quantity of land, horses, clothing, arms, 
goods and chattels, all of which was to be divided among the 
victors. They crowded around Governor Geary, wherever he 
might chance to be, eager to ask questions, volunteer advice, 
and ascertain satisfactorily, whether, in their own chaste phrase, 
he was " sound on the goose. ^^ One, more importunate than 
the rest, and who was a sort of spokesman for his companions, 
having made sundry efforts to receive convincing proofs of the 
latter named fact, very knowingly remarked, after putting an 
unusually large plug of tobacco into his mouth, and winking 
to those around him, as though he would say, ^^Fll catch him 
now; just listen I^^ — 

^^ Wall, govner, as yer gwoin to Kanzies to be govner, I 
hope ye'll not do what Reeder done.'^ 

The governor very quietly asked, ^^ What was it that 
Reeder did V 

This was a poser. 

'^ Whoy,'' said the inquisitor, breathing less freely, and 
shifting the plug of tobacco to the opposite side of his huge 



106 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

jaws, as if to awaken a new thought, — ^^whoy, Reeder, you 
see — Keeder, he — wall, Reeder, then Reeder, he didn't do 
nothin!" 

'^ In that case," answered the governor, '' V\\ endeavor not 
to do as Reeder did !" 

This answer was perfectly clear and satisfactory. The go- 
vernor was ^' sound,'' and the inquisitorial party, adjourned to 
the bar to drink the health of the new governor, who was all 
right, as he didn't intend to do as Reeder had done. 

Active preparations for war were discernible at all the river 
towns. At Lexington, a large crowd was assembled on the 
levee, many of the persons composing it loaded with arms. 
But at Kansas City, the warlike demonstrations were still 
greater. This town is on the southern side of the mouth of 
the Kansas River, which, at this point, separates Missouri 
from the territory of Kansas. It is situated about five miles 
from Westport, near the eastern boundary of Kansas, where 
the Missouri army was concentrating, preparatory to an inva- 
sion of the territory. Both of these towns have become noto- 
rious as places of refuge for the most desperate characters, 
whose almost nameless crimes have blackened the annals of 
Kansas, and as being the resorts of numerous combinations 
which have been congregated to plot against its peace. In a 
word, they are the strongholds of the worst of the ^^ Border 
Ruffians." 

Let it not be understood that this latter term is considered 
by those to whom it is applied as one of reproach. On the 
contrary, they boast of it, are proud of it, glory in it, and do 
all in their power to merit it; and very many of them have 
been eminently successful. In their manner, they assume the 
character of the ruffian; in their dress, they exhibit the ap- 
pearance of the ruffian; and in their conversation they labor to 
convey the impression that they are ruffians indeed. They 
imitate and resemble the guerillas, ladrones or greasers of 
Mexico; the brigands of Spain or Italy; or the pirates, rob- 
bers and murderers of the theatre. 

On the levee at Kansas City stood a sort of omnibus or wa- 
gon, used to convey passengers to and from Westport, upon 
either side of which was painted in flaming capitals the words 
^^ Border Ruffian.'^ Standing about in groups, or running 
in every direction, were numbers of the men who claim for 
themselves that gentle appellation. A description of one of 
these will give the reader some idea of their general charac- 



THE BORDER RUFFIAN. 107 

teristics. Imagine a man standing in a pair of long boots, 
covered with dust and mud and drawn over his trousers, the 
latter made of coarse, fancy-colored cloth, well soiled; the 
handle of a large bowie-knife projecting from one or both boot- 
tops ; a leathern belt buckled around his waist, on each side 
of which is fastened a large revolver; a red or blue shirt, with 
a heart, anchor, eagle or some other favorite device braided on 
the breast and back, over which is swung a rifle or carbine ; a 
sword dangling by his side ; an old slouched hat, with a cock- 
ade or brass star on the front or side, and a chicken, goose or 
turkey feather sticking in the top ; hair uncut and uncombed, 
covering his neck and shoulders ; an unshaved face and un- 
washed hands. Imagine such a picture of humanity, who can 
swear, any given number of oaths in any specified time, drink 
any quantity of bad whiskey without getting drunk, and boast 
of having stolen a half dozen horses and killed one or more 
abolitionists, and you will have a pretty fair conception of a 
border ruJBian, as he appears in Missouri and in Kansas. He 
has, however, the happy faculty of assuming a very diiferent 
aspect. Like other animals, he can shed his coat and change 
his colors. In the city of Washington, he is quite another 
person. You will see him in the corridors of the first-class 
hotels — upon Pennsylvania avenue — in the rotunda of the 
capitol, or the spacious halls of the White House, dressed in 
the finest broad cloths and in the extreme of fashion ; his 
hair trimmed, his face smoothed and his hands cleansed; his 
manner gentle, kind and courteous; his whole deportment 
that of innocence, and his speech so smooth, studied and oily 
as to convince even the sagacious President himself that he is 
a veritable and a polished gentleman, and obtain from the wise 
heads that form the cabinet the most important posts of trust, 
honor and emolument in the gift of the nation. 

The Keystone no sooner touched the shore at Kansas City, 
than she was boarded by a half dozen or more of the leading 
ruffians, who dashed through the cabins and over the decks, 
inspecting the passengers and the state-rooms to satisfy them- 
selves that no abolitionists were on board. And here let it be 
distinctly observed that an abolitionist, in border-ruffian par- 
lance, is not simply a man opposed to the extension of slavery, 
or who favors its abolishment from the states ; but every per- 
son born in a free state, who is unwilling to give indubitable 
evidences that he will do all in his power to assist in making 
Kansas a slave state, by means either fair or foul, at any sacri- 



108 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

fice and at every hazard. It is of little consequence what have 
been and still are his political predilections on every great na- 
tional question. He must know but one issue — that issue, 
slavery — or be branded, in the language of a resolution unani- 
mously passed by the Legislative Assembly, as an ^^ ally of 
abolitionism/^ It will not do to assume a neutral ground; it 
is not sufficient to asseverate that you will give your influence 
to the cause of slavery. All this may be done, and you will 
be regarded with suspicion and treated as an enemy. More 
substantial proof of being '[ sound on the goose ^^ is demanded. 
You must join the '' Blue Lodges'^ — take their solemn oaths 
— bind yourself to murder any man who is opposed to making 
Kansas a slave state, and invoke upon yourself their horrible 
penalties in case of failure. You must steep your hands in 
crime deeper than the most rabid of the fire-eaters of the 
south. You must place yourself utterly in their power, so 
that you dare not quail, or hesitate, or fail to do their bidding. 
You must become yourself a slave, bound by stronger bonds 
than any that holds in servitude the veriest negro wretch — 
else you are an abolitionist. And there are men in Kansas, 
who, though born in free states, are sold, body and soul, to 
the slave interest ; men who have taken the oaths of the Blue 
Lodges — who boast, to prove themselves ^^ sound," of the 
number of crimes they have committed ; the horses they have 
stolen ; the women they have outraged ; the houses they have 
robbed; the murders they have done: — men, in fact, who 
have become so deeply steeped in infamy that they dare not 
now stop, even should they never so much desire ; but who 
find themselves precisely in the condition of Macbeth, when 
he exclaimed 

**I am in blood, 
Stept in so far, that, should I wade no more, 
Returning were as tedious as go o'er." 

The abolitionists of Kansas are all northern-bom men, who 
will not thus prostitute, degrade and destroy themselves in 
support of the slave power; but who have the honesty and 
independence to be free, and to maintain their freedom. 

The Keystone remained at Kansas City only long enough 
for Captain Jackson to land his company with its parapherna- 
lia of war, and to undergo a thorough inspection of the bor- 
der ruffian inquisitors, when she proceeded up the river for 
Fort Leavenworth. She left Kansas City late on the evening 



ARRIVAL AT FORT LEAVENWORTH. 109 

of the 8th, and soon after day-break of the 9th, reached the 
landing at Leavenworth City, three miles below the fort. 
Here was given another exhibition of the wretched condition 
of the country and deplorable spirit of the times. In front 
of the grog-shops, and these comprised nearly every house on 
the river front; on piles of wood, lumber and stone; upon 
the heads of whiskey barrels; at the corners of the streets; 
and upon the river bank, — lounged, strolled, and idled, singly 
or in squads, men and boys clad in the ruffian attire, giving 
sure indication that no useful occupation was being pursued, 
and that vice, confusion and anarchy, had undivided and un- 
disputed possession of the town. Armed horsemen were 
dashing about in every direction, the horses' feet striking fire 
from the stones beneath, and the sabres of the riders rattling 
by their sides. The drum and fife disturbed the stillness of 
the morning, and volunteer companies were on parade and 
drill, with all the habiliments and panoply of war. The town 
was evidently under a complete military rule, and on every 
side were visible indications of a destructive civil strife. The 
whole scene was calculated to excite feelings of commisera- 
tion, if not disgust for the parties, who, actuated by pride, 
avarice, or other even worse passions, should suffer themselves 
to sink so low in the scale of humanity, as to become entirely 
unmindful of all that elevates and dignifies the character of 
man. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

Arrival at Fort Leavenworth. — General P. F. Smith. — Free-state men 
driven from Leavenworth City. — Pressed horses. — John D. Hender- 
son. — Violation of -United States safeguard. — Arrest of Captain Emory. — 
Character of his company. — Governor Geary's letter to Col. Clarkson. — 
Bev. Mr. Nute. — District Attorney Isacks. 

The governor and his party landed at 8 o'clock on the morn- 
ing of September 9th at Fort Leavenworth, where they were 
cordially received and hospitably entertained by Gen. Smith. 
The general was very feeble in health, and confined to his 
quarters. Many free-state people, who had been threatened 
with personal violence and driven from their homes in Leaven- 
worth City, had taken refuge within the enclosures of the fort; 
10 



110 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

and were seated on the grass plots or strolling about the 
grounds. A handbill was posted in sundry places ordering 
them to leave the premises on the following day. 

Several of these persons directed the writer's attention to 
four horsemen who were passing in front of the general's quar- 
ters, and asserted that the horses were their own property and 
stolen by the riders. The leader of the mounted party was 
John D. Henderson, editor and proprietor of the Leavenworth 
Journal^ and a rabid pro-slavery man. 

^' Captain/' said a gentleman who had heard the story of the 
refugees, and addressing Henderson^ ^^that is a fine horse you 
are riding.^' 

^' Yes,'' was the reply. *' He is a splendid animal. He is 
2i pressed horse. All these horses are pressed." 

" Pressed ! What does that mean ?" 

" Oh, pressed into the service." 

^'In other words, I suppose you mean the horses are stolen. 
Who are the owners ?" 

^^ Why, those d d abolitionists over there. We don't 

call it stealing to take possession of their property." 

This man Henderson is by birth a Peunsylvanian; but 
having affiliated with the Kansas pro-slavery party, and con- 
nected himself with the Blue Lodges, was among those north- 
ern born men who were compelled to do extraordinary things, 
' and even boast of those still more remarkable which they had 
not courage to perform, in order to give satisfactory assurance 
of their entire soundness on the '' goose." Hence '^ Jack," 
as his associates call him, delights to tell of his valiant deeds 
in pressing horses, burning houses, and killing abolitionists ; 
and his course has been so thoroughly approved that he has 
been elevated to the dignified position of chairman of the cen- 
tral committee of the pro-slavery, misnamed the *"' National 
Democratic Party of Kansas." 

A few hours after the arrival of Governor Geary at Fort 
Leavenworth, a sergeant belonging to the United States troops 
entered the general's quarters with a serious complaint against 
certain of the men who claimed to be the militia, or *^ law and 
order" party of the territory. He had been appointed a safe- 
guard to escort Samuel Sutherland, E. B. Whitman, and 
Abraham Wilder along the public highway to Fort Leaven- 
worth, and when within a few miles of that place a party of 
armed men belonging to Captain Frederick Emory's company 
stopped him on the road; and violated the safeguard, by forcibly 



• CAPTAIN EMORY. Ill 

taking from him the three men named, whom they earned as 
prisoners, with their horses, wagons, and other property, into 
Leavenworth City. 

General Smith expressed himself with considerable warmth 
against this outrage, appeared anxious to bring the offenders 
to punishment, and readily granted a requisition from Governor 
Geary for a detachment of United States troops to proceed at 
once to Leavenworth City and arrest Emory and his company, 
and rescue the three men they had imprisoned. 

This detachment was forthwith dispatched, and in a few 
hours returned to the fort with the free-state prisoners and 
Emory and his company, numbering twenty men. Upon ap- 
pearing before General Smith, Emory produced James With- 
row, George H. Perrin, L. S. Boling, T. J. Clyde, D. Scott 
Boyle, John J. Benz, and J. 31. Branaman, as the persons 
who had commited the alleged outrage. He spoke in rather 
insolent terms ; said he was not present himself, but that he 
approved the act and held himself responsible. The general 
very mildly reprimanded him, informed him that he was under 
arrest; then dismissed him and suffered him to return to Lea- 
venworth City, to laugh over the silly farce in which he had 
been compelled to be an actor. 

Emory's company were all mounted upon ^^ pressed'^ horses, 
the owners of some of which were present to point out and claim 
them; but as there existed no courts or judges from whom the 
necessary legal process could be obtained, and as Gen. Smith 
would not listen to their complaints, they had no means by 
which to recover their property. Most of them preferred to 
submit quietly to the loss of their horses, rather than risk their 
lives by making any effort for their recovery. 

Emory and his company held their headquarters at Leaven- 
worth City, whence they sallied into the surrounding country 
to ^' press,'' not steal the horses, cattle, wagons, and other pro- 
perty of free-state men, to whom they had become a terror. 
It was during these excursions that Major Sackett, of the United 
States army, found in the road near Leavenworth City a num- 
ber of bodies of men who had been seized, robbed, murdered, 
mutilated, and left unburied by the wayside. It was this 
same Emory and company that made the attack on Phillips's 
house, when Phillips was killed and his brother severely 
wounded. They were also present when the assassin of Hoppe 
brought in his reeking scalp, elevated upon a pole, and ap- 
plauded the savage deed. They were exceedingly active in 



112 HISTORY OF KANSAS. • 

warning free-state men to leave the city, on pain of death, and 
in placing them upon steamboats without mo;iey or proper 
clothing, after breaking into their stores and houses and 
seizing on their effects, not even sparing the wearing apparel 
of women and children. Emory was a contractor for carrying 
the mails, and the fidelity with which he discharged this trust 
is evinced in the fact that on more than one occasion the mails 
submitted to his charge were broken open and robbed. Ail 
these things, however, seem to have met the approbation of 
the judicial and other constituted authorities, and for his 
extraordinary and valuable services Captain Emory has been 
appointed by President Buchanan as Register of the Land 
Office of the Western Land District of Kansas. 

The next day after the events above narrated the governor 
addressed the following letter to Colonel Clarkson, who had 
command of the territorial militia stationed at Leavenworth 
City :— 

*'Fort Leavenworth, K. T., Sept. 10, 1857. 
*' Col. Clabkson: 

''Dear Sir: — It seems necessary that I should address you, relative 
to an unpleasant occurrence that took place yesterday. Not doubting 
that you are actuated by a desire to maintain the public peace and 
promote the prosperity of this territory, I am sure you will at once 
perceive and properly appreciate the motives which prompt me to call 
your attention to the fact above hinted at, and the suggestions I am 
about to offer. 

"Three men, having a passport from General Marshall, and under 
the safeguard of a sergeant of the United States army, were yesterday 
seized by a troop of your men^ and carried as prisoners into Leaven- 
worth City. The only excuse that can be offered for an outrage of 
this character, is the plea of ignorance as to the position of the party 
to whom reference is made. The men in your militia may not have 
been satisfied that the person from whom they took their prisoners, 
was, in truth, a United States sergeant. But in that case, their plain 
duty would have been to accompany him to the fort to ascertain that 
fact. 

*' You will please guard against errors of this description as far as 
possible in future. I also request that you will at once take the 
necessary measures to have returned to the three persons who were 
seized by Captain Emory's men, their horses, wagons, and other pro- 
perty, precisely in the condition in which they were found. You will 
send these effects to General Smith, who will see them duly restored 
to their proper owners. 

" Trusting that hereafter the safeguard of the United States army, 
and everything else in which the honor of the nation is concerned, 
will -be held by you sacred and inviolable, 

** I am, truly yours, 

"John W. Geary, 
*< Governor of Kansas Territory/' 



» REV. E. NUTE. 113 

Soon after the troops left tlie fort to arrest Emory, a scene 
occurred there strongly, illustrative of the times. Rev. E. 
Nute, a Unitarian clergyman, had several times been arrested 
and imxprisoned on the grave charge of being an abolitionist. 
He had also been robbed, almost starved, and otherwise cruelly 
abused, and had just made his escape from his persecutors and 
fled for safety to the fort. Whilst relating his adventures to 
an admiring company of his associates and friends, who like 
himself were refugees from oppression, he espied a wagon pass- 
ing along the road towards Leavenworth, drawn by two horses, 
and containing beside the driver, two women and a goodly 
supply of household furniture and other movables. The rev- 
erend gentleman immediately recognised the horses as a favo- 
rite pair that had been pressed from him when last taken 
prisoner. Without waiting for a legal process, he summoned 
to his assistance a half-dozen friends, and demanded the driver 
of the wagon to halt. He then deliberately unhitched the 
horses and drove them away in triumph, amid the congratula- 
tions and shouts of the bystanders, leaving the driver and his 
female companions in their wagon in the middle of the road in 
a mute state of consternation. Chief Justice Lecompte and 
associate justice Cato, would have pronounced this act unlawful 
and unwarrantable, and all the judges and lawyers in the land 
would have agreed in the decision. Mr. Nute should have 
appealed to a court, or some judicial functionary---made affida- 
vit in regard to his stolen horses — obtained a warrant for the 
arrest of the thief and the restoration of his property — placed 
this in the hands of the marshal or sheriff, and waited patiently 
for its execution. Such would have been the process in ordi- 
nary communities, where the laws are made for the protection 
of the people— where courts are occasionally held — where 
judges deal out even-handed justice— and where officers of the 
law can be induced to execute writs against culprits of their 
own political faith. But such was not the condition of things 
in Kansas, There the balance of legal justice had but one 
gcale, and Mr. Nute occupied the opposite side of the beam. 
Had he asked the courts or the judges^ the marshals or the 
sheriffs, for the restoration of his horses, he might have been 
regarded as a madman, or at least been ridiculed for his pre- 
sumption. And had he waited until they reached Leavenworth 
City to recover them, he could only have made the attempt at 
the hazard if not the sacrifice of his life. 

At Fort Leavenworth, the governor endeavored to impress 
10* H 



114 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

the United States District Attorney, A. J. Isaeks, with the 
importance of resurrecting the courts, holding more frequent 
terms, and arresting, bringing to trial, and legally punishing 
the numerous criminals that were committing with impunity 
atrocious outrages and disturbing the peace of the country. 
Mr. Isacks could not agree with the governor in regard to the 
course of policy he advised. He was for war — war to the 
knife — war to the death. There was no law that could abso- 
lutely rid the country of abolitionists. They must be killed 
or driven out by force. Like other prominent pro-slavery men, 
he was fully imbued with the idea that no person had a right 
in Kansas who was not favorable to making it a slave state; 
and he is said to have been one of the leaders of the secret 
band of '' Regulators/' whose business was to call in disguise 
at the houses of free-state men and order them to quit the 
territory, and threaten them with assassination in case of their 
refusal. Although he received the pay of the government to 
prosecute offences against the laws of the territory, he seldom, 
if ever, was present to perform that duty on the few occasions 
that it suited the convenience of the supreme judges to hold, 
for a few days, a district court. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Fort Leavenworth. — Departure forLecompton. — Barricade at Leavenworth 
City. — Excuse for Border RuflBan outrages. — Terror of James H. Lane. — 
Hair breadth escapes. — Anecdotes of the times. — Robbery at Alexan- 
dria. — A chase and race. — The robbers overtnken. — Arrival at Lecomp- 
ton. — Letter to the Secretary of State. — Two men shot at Lecompton. 

Fort Leavenworth is situated on an elevated piece of land 
on the west side of the Missouri River, three hundred and 
ninety-eight miles above its mouth, and thirty-one miles from 
the mouth of the Kansas. It is just four miles below the 
town of Weston, Missouri, in lat. 39^ 2V 14" N. and long. 
940 44/ Y^ jt, ^as established in 1827. The enclosed 
grounds are spacious and beautiful, and command a delightful 
view of the surrounding country, of many miles in extent. 
The buildings, all of which are constructed of brick and 
stone, are substantial and well arranged^ and present quite an 



TERROR EXCITED BY LANE. 115 

imposing appearance. The quarters for the officers and men, 
are commodious and comfortable. There is a spacious hospi- 
tal, constructed at a cost of 815,000. The grounds adjacent 
belong to the government, and comprise a farm, nine square 
miles in extent, of rich, well improved and highly cultivated 
lands. 

The governor left the fort at about 10 o'clock on the morn- 
ing of September 10th, for Lecompton, the capital of the ter- 
ritory. He was accompanied by the writer, three friends, and 
Lieutenant Drum of the army, all of whom occupied an ambu- 
lance, drawn by four horses. The lieutenant was in command 
of an escort, consisting of a mounted sergeant of dragoons, 
and six infantry soldiers, who rode in a covered army wagon. 

The road passes a short distance westward of Leavenworth 
City, which was barricaded by a line of heavy transportation 
wagons, drawn close together, and extending along the whole 
western border of the town. These were intended as a pro- 
tection against an expected assault from Lane ; but to a mili- 
tary eye, it was evident that a barricade of pipe-stems would 
have answered a far more useful purpose. The wagons would 
have proved more serviceable to the'attacking than to the re- 
pelling forces. 

It is due to the pro-slavery party of Leavenworth to give 
the reasons they assigned for their atrocities against the free- 
state people. The former were laboring under a serious ap- 
prehension that Lane was about to attack them with a large 
army, and their fears caused them to regard all free-state men 
as spies or allies of Lane ; hence the determination to drive 
them from the city, or assassinate them in case of their re- 
fusal to depart. The very name of Lane was a terror, and 
it was only necessary to get up a rumor that he was within a 
hundred miles, to produce a universal consternation. And 
when it was reported that he was actually approaching a pro- 
slavery town, a general panic and stampede was the result. 
Vaporing generals, colonels, captains and privates, suddenly 
stopped in the midst of their stories of valiant deeds, and re- 
membering that they had forgotten their needed arms or ammu- 
nition, or that the women and children must be carried to a 
place of safety, off they ran for shelter in the woods or else- 
where, creeks and rivers furnishing no obstacles to their flight. 
When the dreaded danger was over, or they had discovered 
the alarm to be unfounded, they would re-assemble, each ready 
to boast over his bad whiskey, what terrible deeds he would 



116 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

have accomplished, had the cowardly abolitionist dared to 
make his appearance. It was amusing to hear the many sto- 
ries of hair-breadth 'scapes these men had made. There was 
scarcely one among them who did not seem to carry a charmed 
life ; for, almost every day they had been shot at, the balls 
whizzing past their heads or through their clothing. Accord- 
ing to their accounts, their adversaries must have been the 
worst shots that ever handled fire-arms. The deputy marshals 
and sheriffs exibited bullet-holes in their clothing, or through 
their hats, as evidences of the terrible risks they had run, in 
the discharge of their hazardous duties. Should one of them, 
at any time, hear the discharge of a gun within a mile of him, 
his vivid fancy readily imagined that he could distinctly see 
the ball strike somewhere near his person. On one occasion, 
one of these officials was relating a wonderful escape he had 
just effected. A man, he said, had fired at him in the road 
several successive shots, and as evidence of the narrowness of 
his escape, he presented his hat, showing two holes in it, one 
in front and the other in the back. 

'^ Why,'' said a listener, '^ it is strange that the ball should 
have gone through your hat so low down, without also passing 
through your head !" 

'' Oh/' replied he, nothing disconcerted, ^^ I held my hat 
in my hand when he fired. But I fixed him. I returned 
the shot, and I saw him stagger into the bushes and fall." 

The body, it is scarcely necessary to add, was never found, 
nor could any traces of blood be discovered. 

Many anecdotes were constantly occurring, which, had they 
been collected, would have made an interesting volume. It 
was customary for the '^Regulators," and others of the slavery 
party, to go through the streets of Leavenworth, blowing a 
horn, and ordering free-state men to leave in the next steamer. 
At one time, two Jews were attracted to the door of their 
house by this strange proceeding : 

^' What dosh all'dat meansh, Hans?" asked one. 

^^It meansh dat all who doshent like schlavery mush go 
down de rivers, and all who dosh like schlavery may staysh." 

^^ Well, Hans, den I tinks schlavery is de besht, so we will 
staysh." 

He was like many others, who adopted the slavery side of 
the question, as a matter of policy, to escape persecution and 
subserve personal interests. 

A Pennsylvanian who had done good service in the Mexi- 



ROBBERY AT ALEXANDRIA. 117 

can war, and wtose testimony can be relied •dpon, related the 
following : 

'^ Upon arriving in the territory, I established my residence 
in Leavenworth City, where I was solicited to take command 
of a company of the territorial militia, or ^Maw and order ^' 
party. The company consisted of twenty mounted border 
ruffians. One night it became my duty to guard the main 
entrance to the city, and I took up my position in a prominent 
place on the road, at about one mile distant. It was a very 
dark night, and it was difficult to discern objects even close at 
hand ) my men amused each other and myself, relating the 
daring deeds they had accomplished, and telling what great 
things they would do, in case of an assault. About midnight, 
we heard the distant sounds of horses' feet approaching at a 
rapid rate. A perfect stillness took possession of my men. 
Not a word was uttered. Nearer and nearer, came on the ad- 
vancing party. At length, one of my men exclaimed, ^Lane 
is coming, by G-d V and instantly, the whole company broke 
and ran for the town. In vain I ordered a halt. As well 
might I have attempted to turn back the current of the river, 
as to arrest their flight. I stood alone to await the approach 
of the enemy, whom I found to be four scouts of our own 
party, returning to the city. I immediately resigned my 
office, feeling assured that no dependence could be placed in 
the courage of the men I had been chosen to command. They 
are great braggarts, but they will not fight. They make good 
assassins, but bad soldiers. ^^ 

The governor and party crossed the Stranger River, about 
noon, thirteen miles from Leavenworth, at a place called Al- 
exandria. The town consists of two houses, used as a post- 
office and stores. These had been robbed about an hour before 
our arrival. Several whiskey barrels, with their heads broken 
in, lay in the road. A young man in attendance, gave a de- 
plorable account of the robbery. He said the attack was made 
by about one hundred and fifty of Lane's men, all mounted, 
who came with two wagons, which they filled with goods, broke 
open the post-office box and robbed it of letters and postage 
stamps, and destroyed such articles as they could Bot carry 
away. The proprietor, to save his life, had fled to the hills 
and hid himself in the bushes, and he was threatened with 
death if he should give information concerning the robbery. 
The governor, who had been accustomed to examine ^^ mocca- 
sin tracks/' made a careful investigation of the premises, and 



118 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

at once assured Lieutenant Drum that the statements of hia 
informant were false. He pointed out distinctly the fact that 
the traces upon the ground indicated the late presence of cer- 
tainly not over a dozen horsemen. He then ordered the young 
man to take a seat in the ambulance, to point out the direction 
taken by the robbers, and hastened in pursuit of them. Along 
the road were exhibited fearful evidences of ruffian violence. 
Almost every house had been destroyed, and the sites they 
had occupied were marked only by solitary chimneys standing 
in the midst of heaps of ashes. The first dwelling approached 
was about three miles from Alexandria, where the governor 
halted and inquired of the settler if he had seen a large body 
of men pass during the mornipg. He was promptly answered 
that only six horsemen had passed that way, about half an 
hour previous. The governor then asked the man in com- 
pany why he had attempted to mislead him with a lying state- 
ment. The fellow had nothing to reply, and, after a severe 
rebuke, was permitted to return to Alexandria. As a reward 
for having told the truth, the settler's house was attacked a 
day or two after, and burned to the ground; his wife and half 
dozen children being turned out upon the open prairie^ and 
his crop of corn destroyed. 

The governor increased his speed, and having travelled two 
miles further, upon reaching an elevated piece of ground, saw 
six horsemen crossing the prairie at the distance of about half 
a mile. Upon observing the carriage, they turned toward it, 
putting their horses to a gallop, with the evident intention to 
attack and rob it. As they came within a few hundred yards, 
and preparations were being made to give them a warm recep- 
tion, the covered wagon ascended the hill, thus exhibiting the 
character and strength of the governor's party, when the in- 
tended assailants instantly turned and fled in the opposite 
direction. They were pursued by the sergeant, the only 
mounted man in the company, and a more interesting chase 
was never witnessed. The horses were put to their utmost 
speed, their tails standing straight out, and making time 
rarely equalled on a race-course. Four of them succeeded in 
reaching, a wooded ravine, but the other two, whose horses 
were not equal to that rode by the sergeant, were overtaken 
and commanded to halt. Upon being questioned, they repre- 
sented themselves as free-state men who had been driven from 
their homes by a party of border ruffians. The sergeant, 
however; recognised them as two of a party of six men whom 



Geary's letter to marcy. 119 

he had that morning seen leave Leavenworth City. It was 
subsequently ascertained that the leader of the party was a 
citizen of Missouri ; a prominent member of the Legislative 
Assembly of Kansas, and the alleged author of most of the 
odious election and test laws passed by that body during its 
session of 1855. This person has boasted that he ^^ pressed '' 
from free -state men several valuable horses, which he had car- 
ried for safe keeping into Lexington, Missouri. 

Upon reaching the Kansas River, ferriage was difficult, in 
consequence of the low stage of the water, and it was some 
hours before the governor reached the opposite shore. An 
armed and mounted sentinel guarded the Lecompton landing, 
and demanded to know who the new-comers were. The only 
hotel in the place was reached at about eleven o'clock, where 
the governor was introduced to Secretary Woodson, Ex- Judge 
Elmore and other prominent citizens. The town was in a 
great state of excitement, produced by a recent visit of Lane, 
at the head of five hundred men, who had come to demand 
the release of the free-state prisoners, but who had already 
been discharged, by Judge Lecompte, on bail, after hearing 
of Lane's approach. 

Previous to his departure from Fort Leavenworth, the go- 
vernor addressed the following communication to Secretary 
IMarcy, in which he clearly expresses his opinions concerning 
the condition of the territory at that time : — 

** Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Territory, 

"Sept. 9, 1856. 
" Hon. Wm. L. Marcy, 

•*Dear Sir: I arrived here this morning, and have passed the day 
mostly in consultation with Gen. P. F. Smith, in relation to the affairs 
of the territory, which, as I am now on the spot, I begin more clearly 
to understand. It is no exaggeration to say that the existing 
difficulties are of a far more complicated character than I had 
anticipated. 

"I find that I have not simply to contend against bands of armed 
ruffians and brigands, whose sole aim and end is assassination and 
robbery — infatuated adherents and advocates of conflicting political 
sentiments and local institutions — and evil-disposed persons, actuated 
by a desire to obtain elevated positions; but worst of all, against the 
influence of men who have been placed in authority, and have 
employed all the destructive agents around them to promote their 
own personal interests, at the sacrifice of every just, honorable and 
lawful consideration. 

*' I have barely time to give you a brief statement of facts a.s I find 
them. The town of Leavenworth is now in the hands of armed bodies 



120 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

of men, who, having been enrolled as militia, perpetrate outrages of 
the most atrocious character under shadow of authority from the 
territorial government. Within a few days these men have robbea 
and driven from their homes unoffending citizens; have fired upon 
and killed others in their own dwellings ; and stolen horses and 
property under the pretence of employing them in the public service. 
They have seized persons who had committed no offence ; and after 
stripping them of all their valuables, placed them on steamers, and 
sent them out of the territory. Some of these bands, who have thus 
violated their rights and privileges, and shamefully and shockingly 
misused and abused the oldest inhabitants of the territory, who had 
settled here with their wives and children, are strangers from distant 
states, who have no interest in, nor care for the welfare of Kansas, 
and contemplate remaining here only so long as opportunities for 
mischief and plunder exist. 

*'The actual pro-slavery settlers of the territory are generally as 
well-disposed persons as are to be found in most communities. But 
there are among them a few troublesome agitators, chiefly from 
distant districts, who labor assiduously to keep alive the prevailing 
sentiment. 

**It is also true that among the free-soil residents are many 
peaceable and useful citizens ; and if uninfluenced by aspiring dema- 
gogues, would commit no unlawful act. But many of these, too, 
have been rendered turbulent by officious meddlers from abroad. 
The chief of these is Lane, now encamped and fortified at Lawrence, 
with a force, it is said, of fifteen hundred men. They are sufl'ering 
for provisions, to cut off the supplies of which, the opposing faction 
is extremely watchful and active. 

*'In isolated or country places, no man's life is safe. The roads 
are filled with armed robbers, and murders for mere plunder are of 
daily occurrence. Almost every farm-house is deserted, and no 
traveller has the temerity to venture upon the highway without an 
escort. 

" Such is the condition of Kansas, faintly pictured. It can be no 
worse. Yet I feel assured that I shall be able ere long to restore it 
to peace and quiet. To accomplish this, I should have more aid from 
the general government. The number of United States troops here 
is too limited to render the needed services. Immediate reinforcements 
are essentially necessary; as the excitement is so intense, and citizens 
generally are so much influenced by their political prejudices, that 
members of the two great factions cannot be induced to act in unison, 
and therefore cannot be relied upon. As soon, however, as I can 
succeed in disbanding a portion of those now in service, I will from 
time to time cause to be enrolled as many of the hona fide inhabitants 
as exigencies may seem to require. In the meantime, the presence of 
additional government troops will exert a moral influence that cannot 
be obtained by any militia that can here be called in requisition. 

"In making the foregoing statements, I have endeavored to give 
the truth, and nothing but the truth. I deem it important that you 
should be apprised of the actual state of the case ; and whatever may 
be the effect of such relations, they will be given, from time to time, 
without extenuation. 



MORE OUTRAGES. 121 

'* I shall proceed early in the morning to Lecompton, under an 
escort furnished by Gen. Smith, where I will take charge of the 
government, and whence I shall again address you at an early moment, 
"Very respectfully, your obedt. servt., 

"Jno. W. Geary, 

*' Governor of Kansas." 

On the lOih of September, an altercation took place at Le- 
compton between two South Carolinians. They were personal 
friends, but had been drinking too freely. One of them, 
incensed at some remark of the other, drew his pistol and 
fired, and was about to repeat the shot, when his companion, 
after warning him, discharged into his body the contents of a 
gun loaded with buckshot. The wounded man lingered three 
or four days, in great agony, the other watching and waiting 
upon him during his sufferings. He was never tried for the 
murder, but set at liberty at an examination before one of the 
justices. 

Two or three days later, another serious shooting affair 
occurred in the s^ame town. A free-state man living in the 
vicinity, brought in a load of beef for sale. He proceeded to 
one of the stores, where, meeting a number of the citizens, he 
got into conversation, during which he denounced the institu- 
tion of slavery, an offence unpardonable in Lecompton. A 
quarrel and fight ensued, when the free-state man ran for his 
life. He was pursued to a cluster of woods on the edge of the 
town, his pursuers firing at him a number of times, he turning 
to fire back. He at length dodged behind a tree, whence he 
fired a few more shots. Some of his assailants had run for 
guns, and succeeded in shooting him three times, as he at- 
tempted to make his escape, the balls having entered his back, 
abdomen, and side. He was laid, dangerously, though not 
mortally wounded, upon the beef on his wagon, and brought 
into town with his ox-team. Here his wounds were dressed. 
These occurrences had become so common that they attracted 
but little attention. Whilst this man was writhing apparently 
in the agonies of death on one side of the street, the groggeries 
opposite were filled with loungers too unconcerned to take any 
special notice of the circumstance. 



11 



122 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 



CHAPTER XX. 

The town of Leoompton. — Its location and moral character. — The accounts 
of their grievances by the pro-slavery party. — Policy indicated by that 
party for Governor Geary. — The Inaugural address. — Proclamations 
ordering the dispersion of armed bodies, and for organizing the militia 
of the territory. 

Lecompton is situated on the soutli side of the Kansas 
Kiver, about fifty miles from its junction with the Missouri, 
and forty miles in a south-westerly direction from Leavenworth 
City, upon as inconvenient and inappropriate a site for a town 
as any in the territory ; it being on a bend of the river, diffi- 
cult of access, and several miles beyond any of the principal 
thoroughfares. It was chosen simply for speculative purposes. 
An Indian ^floating claim ^ of a section of land was purchased 
by a company of prominent pro-slavery men, who found it easy 
to induce the legislative assembly to adopt it for the location 
of the capitol, by distributing among the members, supreme 
judges, the governor, secretary of the territory, and others in 
authority, a goodly number of town lots, upon the rapid sale 
of which each expected to realize a handsome income. It 
contained, at the time of Governor Geary's arrival, some twenty 
or more houses, the majority of which were employed as grog- 
geries of the lowest description. In fact, its general moral 
condition was debased to a lamentable degree. It was the 
residence of the celebrated Sheriff Jones (who is one of the 
leading members of the town association), and the resort of 
horse-thieves and ruffians of the most desperate character. Its 
drinking saloons were infested by these characters, where drunk- 
enness, gambling, fighting, and all sorts of crimes were indulged 
in with entire impunity. It was and is emphatically a border 
ruffian town, in which no man could utter opinions adverse to 
negro slavery without placing his life in jeopardy. 'The cor- 
porators, who are the contractors, have expended the §50,000 
appropriated by Congress for the erection of the capitol build- 
ing, for which sum they can now exhibit the foundations for a 
house, some iron castings and tin cornices. 

Upon the governor's arrival he was surrounded by the lead- 
ing men of the place, who kindly volunteered their friendly 
advice and instructions in regard to the policy to be pursued. 



GOV. Geary's address. 123 

To insure his own comfort and safety, and accomplisli any good 
whatever in the territory, he was given to understand that it 
was absolutely necessary to identify himself with the pro-slavery 
party, and aid it with his influence and power to '' wipe out the 
d — d abolitionists/' These were represented as the most wicked 
wretches that ever disgraced the earth. Upon their shoulders 
were heaped all imaginable oifences. There was no crime of 
which they had not been guilty. Every enormity committed 
in Kansas was charged to their account ; whilst their accusers 
were and had ever been peace-loving and law and order citi- 
zens, who with Christian forbearance and Job-like patience had 
meekly submitted to outrages that no pencil could portray nor 
language properly depict. It was really painful to hear their 
plausible stories of the sufferings they had quietly and patiently 
endured at the hands of their northern oppressors and fiendish 
persecutors. 

The governor was too perverse and obstinate to believe that 
the wrong was altogether on one side, or that the cause of hu- 
manity or the welfare of the country was to be promoted by 
the course of policy he was so eloquently and earnestly soli- 
cited to adopt and pursue. Hence he issued the following 
address, in which he expressed a determination to know no 
party, and to recognise no sectional prejudices, but in the ex- 
ercise of his official functions to do equal and exact justice to 
all classes of the community — a resolution to which he rigidly 
adhered during his entire administration : — 

** Fellow Citizens : 

♦'I appear among you a stranger to most of you, and for the 
first time have the honor to address you, as Governor of the 
Territory of Kansas. The position was not sought by me ; but was 
voluntarily tendered by the present chief magistrate of the nation. 
As an American citizen, deeply conscious of the blessings which ever 
flow from our beloved Union, I did not consider myself at liberty to 
shrink from any duties, however delicate and onerous, required of me 
by my country. 

*' With a full knowledge of all the circumstances surrounding the 
executive- office, I have delib-erately accepted it, and as God may give 
me strength and ability, I will endeavor faithfully to discharge its 
varied requirements. When I received my commission I was solemnly 
sworn to support the Constitution of the United States, and to 
discharge my duties as Governor of Kansas with fidelity. By 
reference to the act for the organization of this territory, passed by 
Congress on the 30th day of March, 1854, I find my duties more 
particularly defined. Among other things, I am 'to take care that 
the laws be faithfully executed.' 



124 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

'* The Constitution of the United States and the organic law of the 
territory, will be the lights by which I will be guided in my executive 
career. 

** A careful and dispassionate examination of our organic act will 
satisfy any reasonable person that its provisions are eminently just 
and beneficial. If this act has been distorted to unworthy purposes, 
it is not the fault of its provisions. The great leading feature of that 
act is the right therein conferred upon the actual and bona fide 
inhat)itants of this territory * in the exercise of self-government, to 
determine for themselves what shall be their own domestic institutions, 
subject only to the constitution and the laws duly enacted by Congress 
under it.' The people, accustomed to self-government in the states 
from whence they came, and having removed to this territory with 
the bona fide intention of making it their future residence, were 
supposed to be capable of creating their own municipal government, 
and to be the best judges of their own local necessities and institutions. 
This is what is termed ''popular sovereignty.^ By this phrase we 
simply mean the right of the majority of the people of the several 
states and territories, being qualified electors, to regulate their own 
domestic concerns, and to make their own municipal laws. Thus 
understood, this doctrine underlies the whole system of republican 
government. It is the great right of self-government, for the esta- 
blishment of which our ancestors, in the stormy days of the revolution, 
pledged * their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.' 

*' A doctrine so eminently just should receive the willing homage 
of every American citizen. When legitimately expressed, and duly 
ascertained, the will of the majority must be the imperative rule of 
civil action for every law-abiding citizen. This simple, ju»t rule of 
action has brought order out of chaos, and by a progress unparalleled 
in the history of the world, has made a few feeble, infant colonies, a 
giant confederated republic. 

*' No man, conversant with the state of aflfairs, now in Krvasas, can 
close his eyes to the fact that much civil disturbance has for a long 
time past existed in this territory. Various reasons have been 
assigned for this unfortunate condition of affairs, and numerous 
remedies have been proposed. 

*' The House of Representatives of the United States have ignored 
the claims of both gentlemen claiming the legal right to represent 
the people of this territory in that body. The Topeka Constitution, 
recognised by the House, has been repudiated by the Senate. Various 
measures, each in the opinion of its respective advocates, suggestive 
of peace to Kansas, have been alternately proposed and rejected. 
Men, outside of the territory, in various sections of the Union, influenced 
by reasons best known to themselves, have endeavored to stir up 
internal strife, and to array brother against brother. 

** In this conflict of opinion, and for the promotion of the most 
unworthy purposes, Kansas is left to suffer, her people to mourn, and 
her prosperity is endangered. 

*'Is there no remedy for these evils? Cannot the wounds of 
Kansas be healed, and peace be restored to all her borders? 

** Men of the north — men of the south — of the east, and of the west, 



GOV. Geary's address. 125 

in Kansas, you, and you alone, have the retnedy in your own hands. 
Will you not suspend fratricidal strife ? Will you not cease to regard 
each other as enemies, and look upon one another as the children of 
. a common mother, and come and reason together? 

"Let us banish diXl outside influences from our deliberations, and 
assemble around our council board with the constitution of our 
country and the organic law of this territory, as the great charts 
for our guidance and direction. The bona fide inhabitants of the 
territory alone are charged with the solemn duty of enacting her 
laws, upholding her government, maintaining peace, and laying the 
foundation for a future commonwealth. 

" On this point let there be a perfect unity of sentiment. It is the 
first great step towards the attainment of peace. It will inspire 
confidence amongst ourselves and insure the respect of the whole 
country. Let us show ourselves worthy and capable of self- 
government. 

"Do not the inhabitants of this territory better understand what 
domestic institutions are suited to their condition — what laws will be 
most conducive to their prosperity and happiness, than the citizens 
of distant, or even neighboring states? This great right of regulating 
our own affairs and attending to our own business, without any 
interference from others, has been guaranteed to us by the law which 
Congress has made for the organization of this territory. This right 
of self-government — this privilege guaranteed to us by the organic 
law of our territory, I will uphold with all my might, and with the 
entire power committed to me. 

"In relation to any changes of the laws of the territory which I 
may deem desirable, I have no occasion now to speak; but these are 
subjects to which I shall direct public attention at the proper time. 

" The territory of the United States is the common property of the 
several states, or of the people thereof. This being so, no obstacle 
should be interposed to the free settlement of this common property, 
v^ile in a territorial condition. 

"I cheerfully admit that the people of this territory, under the 
organic act, have the absolute right of making their own municipal 
laws. And from citizens who deem themselves aggrieved by recent 
legislation, I would invoke the utmost forbearance, and point out to 
them a sure and peaceable remedy. You have the right to ask the 
next legislature to revise any and all laws ; and in the meantime, as 
you value the "peace of the territory and the maintenance of future 
laws, I would earnestly ask you to refrain from all violations of the 
present statutes. 

"I am sure that there is patriotism sufficient in the people of 
Kansas to induce them to lend a willing obedience to law. All the 
provisions of the Constitution of the United States must be sacredly 
observed — all the acts of Congress, having reference to this territory, 
must be unhesitatingly obeyed, and the decisions of our courts 
respected. It will be mj imperative duty to see that these suggestions 
are carried into efi'ect. In my official action here, I will do justice 
at all hazards. Influenced by no other considerations than the welfare 
of the whole people of this territory, I desire to know no party, nc 

11* 



126 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

section, no north, no south, no east, no '-west — nothing but Kansas 
and my country. 

*' Fully conscious of my great responsibilities in the present con- 
dition of Kansas, I must invoke your aid, and solicit your generous 
forbearance. Your executive officer can do little without the aid of 
the people. With a firm reliance upon Divine Providence, to the best 
of my ability, I shall promote the interests of the citizens of this 
territory, not merely collectively, but individually, and I shall expect 
from them, in return, that cordial aid and support, without which 
the government of no state or territory can be administered with 
beneficent effect. 

*' Let us all begin anew. Let the past be buried in oblivion. Let 
all strife and bitterness cease. Let us all honestly devote ourselves 
to the true interests of Kansas ; develope her rich agricultural and 
mineral resources ; build up manufacturing enterprises ; make public 
roads and highways ; prepare amply for the education of our children ; 
devote ourselves to all the arts of peace ; and make our territory the 
sanctuary of those cherished principles which protect the inalienable 
rights of the individual, and elevate states in their sovereign 
capacities. 

*'Then shall peaceful industry soon be restored; population and 
wealth will flow upon us ; * the desert will blossom as the rose;' and 
the State of Kansas will soon be admitted into the Union, the peer 
and pride of her elder sisters. 

"Jno. W. Geary." 

Simultaneously with this address, clearly developing the 
policy by which his official action was to be guided and con- 
trolled; the governor published the following proclamations : — 

* "PROCLAMATION. 

** Whereas, A large number of volunteer militia have been called 
into the service of the Territory of Kansas, by authority of the late, 
acting governor, for the maintenance of order, many of whom have 
been taken from occupations or business, and deprived of their 
ordinary means of support and of their domestic enjoyments ; and 

"Whereas, The employment of militia is not authorized by my 
instructions from the general government, except upon requisition of 
the commander of the military department in which Kansas is 
embraced ; and 

" Whereas, An authorized regular force has been placed at my 
disposal, sufficient to insure the execution of the laws that may be 
obstructed by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the 
ordinary course of judicial proceedings ; now 

'^Therefore, I, John W. Geary, Governor of the Territory of Kansas, 
do issue this, my proclamation, declaring that the services of such 
volunteer militia are no longer required ; and hereby order that they 
be immediately discharged. The secretary and the adjutant-general 
of the territory will muster out of service each command at its place 
of rendezvous. 



DEPLORABLE CONDITION OF AFFAIRS. 127 

"And I command all bodies of men, combined, armed and equipped 
with munitions of war, without authoritj^ of the government, instantly 
to disband or quit the territory, as they will answer the contrary at 
their peril. 

** In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and affixed 
the seal of the Territory of Kansas. 

*' Done at Lecompton, this eleventh day of September, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six. 

"Jno. W. Geary, 
*' Governor of Kansas Territory." 

''PROCLAMATION. 

" Whereas, It is the true policy of every state or territory to be 
prepared for any emergency that may arise from internal dissension 
or foreign invasion ; 

** Therefore^ I, John W. Geary, Governor of the Territory of Kansas, 
do issue this, my proclamation, ordering all free male citizens, 
qualified to bear arms, between the ages eighteen and forty-five years, 
to enrol themselves, in accordance with the act to organize the militia 
of the territory, that they may be completely organized by companies, 
regiments, brigades, or divisions, and hold themselves in readiness, 
to be mustered, by my order, into the service of the United States, 
upon requisition of the commander of the military department in 
which Kansas is embraced, for the suppression of all combinations to 
resist the laws, and for the maintenance of public order and civil 
government. 

" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and the seal 
of the Territory of Kansas. 

*'Done at Lecompton, this eleventh day of September, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six. 

*'Jno. W. Geary, 
** Governor of Kansas Territory." 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Gloomy prospect for Governor Geary*? administration. — Determination 
to make Kansas a slave state. — Opposition to the new governor. — 
Address to the people of the slave states. — Secretary Woodson's pro- 
clamation. 

No man ever commenced the discharge of officiaJ. duties 
under such discouraging auspices, or in the face of so many 
embarrassments, difficulties, and dangers, as did Governor 
Geary. The bitterness of party spirit had reached its acme. 



128 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

Every class of tlie community either was or pretended to ha 
suffering grievances that cried aloud for vengeance. All 
means at pacification were regarded as fruitless, and the leaders 
of the conflicting parties neither saw nor recognised any hope 
of redress or peace except in the extermination of the other. 
The free-state people had no reason to expect even a show of 
justice from the administration at Washington. Every federal 
officer in the territory and every territorial officer, whether ap- 
pointed or elected, from the supreme judges and secretary to 
the deputy marshals, sheriffs and clerks, were wedded to the 
slave power, and pledged at all hazards to its extension. And 
the free-state party, judging from the uniform policy of the 
general government, very naturally supposed that the new 
governor was but another instrument chosen for their oppres- 
sion and persecution. It was by no means remarkable, therefore, 
that they should not only withhold from him everything like a 
cordial welcome, but regard him with distrust and suspicion, 
and determine to throw eveiy possible obstacle in the way of his 
administration. Even President Pierce and his cabinet appear 
to have made a mistake in the appointment of Governor Geary; 
for subsequent events prove, that although he succeeded in re- 
storing peace to the territory, he failed to accomplish the 
object of their desires ; and when they discovered his unwa- 
vering determination to do equal justice to all the citizens, 
they withdrew from him, at the time it was most needed, their 
protecting care. 

The pro-slavery party, on the other hand, had selected a 
governor for themselves, and were resolved not to receive with 
favor any other than the man they had chosen. This was 
John Calhoun, the surveyor-general of Kansas and Nebraska. 
He had been well tried, and found to be entirely ^' sound on 
the goose. '^ Of his attachment to their interests there was no 
room to doubt. Like all others of their party born in free 
states, he was willing and ready to commit excesses at which 
even the most rabid of themselves would hesitate. He con- 
sidered it no crime to murder northern men, and declared that 
he would kill an abolitionist with less compunction than he 
would a rat. He had the bestowment of an immense patron- 
age, which he took great care to render subservient to the 
interests of his party. His clerks and other attaches, paid by 
the government to survey the lands, were enlisted in the Mis- 
souri army of invasion, and the horses and wagons belonging 
to his department were employed to transport provisions and 



A PRO-SLAYERY GOVERNOR WANTED. 129 

aminumtion for its use. He would have made just such a 
governor as his party needed, and great dissatisfaction was the 
result of his failure to receive the appointment. 

The broad ground assumed by the rabid leaders of the pro- 
slavery party in Kansas was that an equilibrium of the slave 
power must be maintained at any sacrifice in the American 
Union, and this could only be effected by increasing the slave 
states in proportion with the free. As Nebraska will unques- 
tionably enter the Union a free State, Kansas must be admitted 
with a constitution authorizing slavery. Whilst, therefore, 
the south was willing to give Nebraska to the north, they asked 
and demanded that Kansas should be ceded to the south. It 
was of little consequence what number of northern men located 
themselves in Kansas. It was assumed that they had no right 
to come there, unless with the intention of assisting to make it 
a slave state. If they would not pledge themselves to that 
object they were abolitionists, allies of disunionism, and de- 
serving of death j and so far from being a crime, it was a vir- 
tue to kill them. This was the doctrine, openly and boldly 
advocated, that led to the commission of the most horrid atro- 
cities that blackened the annals of the territory. 

Hence, when Governor Geary^s appointment was announced, 
and it was understood that he was determined not to affiliate 
with either of the opposing factions, but purposed to hold the 
scales of justice with an even hand, and to support and carry- 
out the doctrine of popular sovereignty in the territory, not 
only much dissatisfaction but considerable consternation was 
the result. It was feared that every darling scheme and in- 
famous attempt to force the institution of slavery into Kansas 
would be frustrated by his acknowledged integrity and well- 
known sagacity, industry and energy. Measures were imme- 
diately adopted to circumvent his plans, in anticipation of his 
coming. Active preparations were commenced, and carried 
forward with surprising energy, to gather an army in Missouri 
and other slave states with which to overrun the territory and 
di'ive out or annihilate all the free-state people, before the new 
governor could be on hand to intervene his authority and pre- 
vent the execution of so diabolical a pui'pose. An inflamma- 
tory address was prepared and published, signed by Atchison, 
Stringfellow, Tebbs, Anderson, Heid, Doniphan, and a host of 
kindred spirits, most of them Missourians, accusing the free- 
state people of the very outrages which themselves were daily 
committing, and calling for assistance to punish the traitors, 



130 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

assassins^ and robbers who bad invaded tbe territory from tbe 
nortb. Tbis address was exceedingly plausible, and deceived 
many an bonest man into tbe espousal of a cause wbicb be 
subsequently abandoned in borror and disgust. The following 
extracts will give a proper idea of tbe general tenor of tbis 
document : — 

*' We have asked the appointment of a successor, who was ac- 
quainted with our condition ; who, a citizen of the territory, identitied 
with its interests, familiar with its history, would not be prejudiced 
or misled by the falsehoods which have been so systematically fabri- 
cated against us — one who, heretofore a resident as he is a native of 
a non-slaveholding state, is yet not a slaveholder, but has the capacity 
to appreciate, and the boldness and integrity requisite faithfully to 
discharge his duty, regardless of the possible effect it might have upon 
the election of some petty politician in a distant state. 

" In his stead we have one appointed who is ignorant of our condi- 
tion, a stranger to our people ; who we have too much cause to fear 
will, if no worse, prove no more efficient to protect us than his pre- 
decessors. 

" With, then, a government which has proved imbecile — has failed 
to enforce the laws for our protection — with an army of lawless ban- 
ditti overrunning our country — what shall we do? 

" Though we have full confidence in the integrity and fidelity of 
Mr. Woodson, now acting as governor, we know not at what moment 
his authority will be superseded. We cannot await the convenience 
in coming of our newly appointed governor. We cannot hazard a 
second edition of imbecility or corruption. 

" We must act at once and effectively. These traitors, assassins, 
and robbers must be punished ; must now be taught a lesson they 
will remember. 

*'We wage no war upon men for their opinions; have never at- 
tempted to exclude any from settling among us; we have demanded 
only that all should alike submit to the law. To all such we will 
afford protection, whatever be their political opinions. But Lane's 
army and its allies must be expelled from the territory. Thus alone 
can we make safe our persons and property — thus alone can we bring 
peace to our territory. 

"To do this we will need assistance. Our citizens unorganized, 
many of them unarmed, for they came not as soldiers — though able 
heretofore to assemble a force sufficient to compel the obedience of 
the rebels, now that they have been strengthened by this invading 
army, thoroughly drilled, perfectly equipped, mounted, and ready to 
march at a moment's notice to attack our defenceless settlements — 
may be overpowered. Should we be able even to vanquish this addi- 
tional force, we are threatened with a further invasion of like cha- 
racter through Iowa and Nebraska. 

"This is no mere local quarrel; no mere riot; but it is a war! a 
war waged by an army ! a war professedly for our extermination. It 
is no mere resistance to the laws ; no simple rebellion of our citizens. 



ACTING-GOVERNOR WOODSON. 131 

but a war of invasion — the army a foreign army — properly named the 
*army of the north.' 

"It is then not only the right but the duty of all good citizens of 
Missouri and every other state to come to our assistance, and enable 
us to expel these invaders. 

" Mr. Woodson, since the resignation of Governor Shannon, in the 
absence of Governor Geary, has fearlessly met the responsibilities of 
the trust forced upon him, has proclaimed the existence of the rebel- 
lion, and called on the militia of the territory to assemble for its sup- 
pression. 

" We call on you to come ! to furnish us assistance in men, provi- 
sions, and munitions, that we may drive out the ' army of the north,' 
who would subvert our government and expel- us from our homes. 

" Our people though poor, many of them stripped of their all, 
others harassed by these fiends so that they have been unable to 
provide for their families, are yet true men ; will stand with you 
shoulder to shoulder in defence of rights, of principles in which you 
have a common if not deeper interest than they. 

"By the issue of this struggle is to be decided whether law or law- 
lessness shall reign in our country. If we are vanquished you too 
will be victims. Let not our appeal be in vain I" 

The Squatter Sovereign, an incendiary newspaper, publislied 
and edited by Messrs. Stringfellow and Kelly, at Atchison, 
in Doniphan county, also lent its aid to increase the excitement 
and embarrass the action of the governor, whose arrival was 
daily expected. Its articles were highly inflammatory, calling 
loudly for war and the extermination of the free- state people. 
Its complaints against the administration for the appointment 
of Geary, were uttered in no stinted terms. ^^ No northern 
man,^^ it alleged, '^ was fit to govern Kansas.'^ John H. 
Stria gfellow, one of the editors, is notorious for his violence. 
He has been arrested and indicted on sundry charges of horse- 
stealing and other crimes; whilst Robert S. Kelly, his asso- 
ciate, who was so conspicuous in the outrages upon E.ev. Pardee 
Butler, declared that he could never die happy until he had 
killed an abolitionist. *' If,^^ said he, ^^ I can't kill a man, 
I'll kill a woman; and if I can't kill a woman. Til kill a child T^ 
That such men should do all in their power to embarrass an 
impartial executive and prevent the restoration of peace, is no 
subject for astonishment. 

But the most reprehensible character in the drama being 
enacted, all things considered, was the secretary of the terri- 
tory, then acting-governor. Without a will of his own, he 
became the subtle tool of the designing men with whom he 
was surrounded, and was inveided into the commission of au 



132 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

act wliicli words can scarcely condemn with sufficient severity. 
More than three weeks after Governor Geary had received his 
commission, and Secretary Woodson had every reason to believe 
that he was on his way to the territory, that weak-minded, if 
not criminally defective officer, issued the following : — 

" PROCLAMATION. 

^^ By the acting governor of the Territory of Kansas. 

*^ Whereas, satisfactory evidence exists that the territory of Kansas 
is infested with large bodies of armed men, many of whom have just 
arrived from the states, combined and confederated together, and 
amply supplied with all the munitions of war, under the direction of 
a common head, with a thorough military organization, who have 
been and are still engaged in murdering law-abiding citizens of the 
territory, driving others from their homes, and compelling them to 
flee to the states for protection, capturing and holding others as 
prisoners of war, plundering them of their property, and in some 
instances burning down their houses and robbing United States post 
offices, and the local militia of the arms furnished them by the govern- 
ment, in open defiance and contempt of the laws of the territory, and 
of the constitution and laws of the United States, and of civil and 
military authority thereof — all for the purpose of subverting by 
force and violence, the government established by law of Congress 
in this territory. 

"Now, therefore, I, Daniel Woodson, acting governor of the terri- 
tory of Kansas, do hereby issue my proclamation declaring the said 
territory to be in a state of open insurrection and rebellion ; and I do 
hereby call upon all law-abiding citizens of the territory to rally to 
the support- of their country and its laws, and require and command 
all officers, civil and military, and all other citizens of the territory 
to aid and assist by all means in their power, in putting down the 
insurrectionists, and bringing to condign punishment all persons 
engaged with them, to the end of assuring immunity from violence, 
and full protection to the persons, property, and civil rights to all 
peaceable and law-abiding inhabitants of the territory. 

" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
to be attached the seal of the territory of Kansas. 
. ,- — * — s^ "Done at the city of Lecompton, this 25th day of 

j I August, in the year of our Lord, eighteen hundred and 

1 ^ * j fifty-six, and of the independence of the United States 
^ w y -^ •' the eightieth. 

" Daniel Woodson, 
"Acting Governor, K. T.'* 

This proclamation, calling for volunteer militia from Mis- 
souri and elsewhere out of the territory, exhibits an utter lack 
of sound judgment, and came nigh proving more disastrous to 
the country than all the events combined that have yet trans- 
pired. Not satisfied, however, with the proclamation, which, 



CIVIL WAR PREVENTED. 133 

of itself, was sufiSciently mischievous, lie wrote private letters 
to parties in Missouri,- calling for men, money and munitions 
of war, to carry out his partisan purposes. This proclamation 
and these letters called together thousands of men, mostly 
from Missouri, with passions inflamed to the highest degree, 
and whose only thought and full determination, was wholesale 
slaughter and destruction. From the hour they entered the 
territory until they again passed its borders, their path was 
marked with bloodshed and ruin. There was scarcely a crime 
in the vast category of crimes that they did not commit with 
a brutality scarcely conceivable in beings bearing the human 
form. It would be disgusting and sickening to recapitulate 
the wanton atrocities, the hellish cruelties, perpetrated by these 
bands of volunteer militia. When Governor Geary appeared 
among them at their camp at Franklin, as will hereafter be 
related, and made known his purpose to disband them, it was 
with difficulty that their leaders could restrain their fiendish 
appetites and prevent the consummation of their shocking 
designs. The presence of the governor there was most oppor- 
tune. An hour or two later, the town of Lawrence would 
have been in ashes; every man, woman and child in it, would 
, have been ruthlessly slaughtered; and several thousands of 
human bloodhounds thirsting for vengeance, would have been 
let loose upon the territory with uncontrollable fury, to lay 
waste and desolate whatever came in their way. It is impos- 
sible to imagine the extent of the calamities and horrors that 
would have ensued. The alarm would have spread beyond 
the boundaries of Kansas to every state and territory of the 
Kepublic; the tocsin of war would have sounded from one 
extremity of the Union to the other; and as bloody a civil 
strife as the world has ever known must have been the result. 
For this act of the secretary, which, but for the timely inter- 
ference of Governor Geary, would have been productive of 
unspeakable evils, President Buchanan, with characteristic 
generosity, has rewarded Mr. Woodson with the office of re- 
ceiver for the Delaware Land District. 



12 



134 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

The Missouri army. — Orders to the adjutant and inspector-generals of the 
territory. — Dispatch to Secretary Marcy. — Dispatches from General 
Heiskell. — Message from the governor's special agent. — Requisition for 
troops. — Visit of the governor to Lawrence, and return to Lecompton. 

It was the fixed purpose of Secretary Woodson to keep 
Governor Geary in ignorance of the extensive preparations 
that were being made to attack and destroy the free-state set- 
tlements. As yet, the governor had not seen Woodson's procla- 
mation, and he regarded the demonstrations on the Missouri 
Kiver more in the light of a farce than a dangerous reality. When, 
upon entering the steamer, at Jefferson City, he was accosted 
by an armed ruffian, who assured him that if, upon his arrival 
in Kansas, he attempted to interfere with the arrangements 
of the pro-slavery party, he would be assassinated, he treated 
the warning with contempt, as he did others of a similar cha- 
racter, made at different stages of his journey. But at Le- 
compton everything assumed so quiet an aspect, and the secre- 
tary appeared so composed and placid, that the governor had 
no reason to suspect that a conspiracy was then being consum- 
mated on a grand and terrible scale, to thwart the objects of 
his mission and deluge the country in blood. 

Without, therefore, perceiving the heavy cloud that was 
rapidly increasing in magnitude and darkness, and about to 
break with frightful fury over the territory, the governor was 
proceeding deliberately to institute the policy made known in 
his inaugural address, and to disband the militia of the terri- 
tory, in common with other armed bodies, in accordance with 
his proclamation. To this end he verbally instructed Secre- 
tary Woodson, and issued the following orders to the proper 
military officers : — 

<* Executive Department, 

''Lecompton, K. T., Sept. 12, 1856. 
**Adjt.-Gex. H. J. Strickler: 

" Dear Sir: — You will proceed without a moment's delay to disarm 
and disband the present organized militia of the territory, in accord- 
ance with the instructions of the President, and the proclamations 
which I have issued, copies of which you will find enclosed. You 



Geary's second letter to marcy. 135 

will also take care to have the arms belonging to the territory depo- 
sited in a place of safety and under proper accountability. 

*' Yours, &c., 

"Jno. W. Geary, 

*' Governor of Kansas Territory." 

*' Executive Dapartment, 

"Lecompton, K. T., Sept. 12, 1856. 
** Inspector-Gen. Thos. J. B. Cramer: 

"Sir: — You will take charge of the arms of the Territory of 
Kansas, now in the hands of the militia about to be disbanded and 
mustered out of the service by the adjutant-general. Y^ou will also 
carefully preserve the same agreeably to the 15th section of the act 
of assembly, to organize, discipline, and govern the militia of the 
territory. 

** Yours, &c., 

*' Jno. W. Geary, 
*' Governor of Kansas Territory." 

Notwithstanding the positive character of these orders, they 
were utterly disregarded by the parties to whom they were 
addressed, who lingered about Lecompton with an air of self- 
satisfaction which could only be regarded as disrespectful and 
insulting to the governor, who not only administered to them 
a severe rebuke, but, suspecting that treachery was somewhere 
at work, he forthwith dispatched confidential messengers on 
the road toward Westport, to ascertain, if possible, what ope- 
rations were going forward in that vicinity. 

He likewise, on the same day, forwarded the following letter 
to the secretary of state : — 

''Executive Office, 

Lecompton, K. T., Sept. 12, 1856. 
** Hon. Wm. L. Marcy, 

" Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. 

**My dear Sir: — I arrived here late on the night of the lOth inst., 
having crossed from Fort Leavenworth with an escort furnished me 
by General Smith. On the road, I witnessed numerous evidences of 
the atrocities that are being committed by the bands of marauders 
that infest the country. In this place everything is quiet ; which is 
attributable to the presence of a large force of United States troops. 
The trial of the United States prisoners was to have taken place oA 
the day of my arrival ; but in consequence of the absence of the dis- 
trict-attorney, and the non-appearance of witnesses, it was deferred 
until the next regular term of the court. Judge Lecompte admitting 
the prisoners to bail in the sum of five thousand dollars each. They 
departed on the same day for Lawrence, where Lane still continues 
in force. 

** Accompanying this you will find printed copies of my inaugural 



136 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

address and my first proclamations, which •will exhibit the policy I 
have thus far thought proper to pursue. 

*' I have determined to dismiss the present organized militia, after 
consultation with and by the advice of General Smith ; and for the 
reasons that they were not enrolled in accordance with the laws ; 
that many of them are not citizens of the territory; that some of 
them were committing outrages under the pretence of serving th.e 
public ; and that they were unquestionably perpetuating, rather than 
diminishing, the troubles with which the territory is agitated. 

"I have also, as you will see, taken the proper steps to enroll the 
militia of the territory, agreeably to the act of assembly, and to your 
instructions of September 2d. I trust that the militia, thus organized, 
may be rendered serviceable to the government. It is probable also 
that these proclamations may have the tendency to disband the free- 
state organizations at Lawrence. 

"Nothing of material importance has occurred, or come under my 
notice, since I last addressed you. I shall continue to keep you 
apprised of all matters that I may deem of sufficient interest to com- 
municate. 

" As there is no telegraphic communication nearer than Boonville, 
I am compelled to trust my dispatches to the mails, which are now in 
this region somewhat uncertain. 

** Most truly and respectfully, your obedient servant, 

*«Jno. W. Geaky." 

At the time of writing the above, the strength, movements 
and designs of the Missouri army were unknown to Governor 
Geary ; but soon afterwards their plans and operations began 
to be developed. Shortly after midnight, on the morning of 
September 13th, the governor received a messenger bearing 
the following remarkable dispatch : — • 

"Head Quarters, Mission Creek, K. T., 

" 11th September, 1856. 
" To His Excellengy, J. W. Geary, 

"Governor of Kansas Territory. 
" Sir: In obedience to the call of Acting-Governor Woodson, I have 
organized a militia force of about eight hundred men, who are now 
in the field, ready for duty, and impatient to act. Hearing of your 
arrival, I beg leave to report them to you for orders. Any communi- 
cation forwarded to us, will find us encamped at or near this point. 
" I have the honor to be, respectfully, your obdt. servant, 

" Wm. a. Heiskill, 
^ "Brig. Gen. Commanding First Brigade, 

" Southern Division, Kansas Militia. 
" By order, 

"L. A. Maclean, Adjutant." 

Not more than an hour after the receipt of the foregoing, a 
second messenger arrived, himself almost exhausted with a 



LAWRENCE THREATENED. 187 

long and fast ride and his horse nearly broken down, and pre- 
sented the following : — 

" Head Quarters, Mission Camp, 

**12th September, 1856. 
*'To His Excellency, J. W. Geaby, 

*' Governor of Kansas Territory. 
"Sir: Yesterday I had the honor to report to you my command 
of Kansas Militia, then about eight hundred strong, which was 
dispatched via Leavenworth. In case it may not have reached you, 
I now report one thousand men as territorial militia, called into the 
lield by proclamation of Acting-Governor Woodson^ and subject to 
your orders. 

'* I have the honor to be, respectfully, your obedt. servt., 

" Wm. a. Heiskell, 
"Brig. Gen. Commanding First Brigade, 

"'Southern Div., Kansas Militia. 
**By order, 

"L. A. Maclean, Adjutant." 

Without a moment's hesitation, the governor determined at 
once to disband these troops and send them back to their 
homes ; and he accordingly answered the dispatches of General 
Heiskell, as follows : — 

"Executive Oflace, Lecompton, K. T., 

" September 12, 1856, 1 J o'clock. 
" Brig. Gen. Wm. A. Heiskell. 

" Sir: Your first and second dispatches have been received. 1 will 
communicate with you through the person of either the secretary of . 
the territory, or the adjutant-general, as soon as he can reach your 
camp, he starting from this place at an early hour this morning. 

" Very respectfully yours, 

" Jno. W. Geary, 
" Governor of Kansas Territory." 

Whilst the foregoing was being written, a message was 
received from a special agent of the governor, dated at Law- 
rence, in which he says : — 

•^^I arrived here a few moments ago, and distributed the 
address and proclamations., and found the people prepared to 
repel a contemplated attack from the forces coming from Mis- 
souri. Reports are well authenticated, in the opinion of the 
best men here, that there are within six miles of this place a 
large number of men — three hundred have been seen. * * 
At this moment one of the scouts came in, and reports the 
forces marching against them at Franklin, three miles oflP, and 
all have flown to their arms to meet them.'' 
12* 



138 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

This message was enclosed witli the following dispatch, and 
sent immediately to Colonel Cook, commanding United States 
forces near Lecompton : — 

*' Executive Office, Lecompton, K. T., 

"Sept. 13, 1856, at IJ o'clock, A. M. 
*'CoL. P. St. Geouge Cook. 

"Dear Sir: The accompanying dispatch, just received from Law- 
rence, gives sufficient reason to believe that trouble of a serious 
character is likely to take place there. Mr. Adams, the writer of 
the dispatch, is the special agent whom I sent down last evening to 
ascertain the state of affairs. I think you had better send immediately 
to Lawrence a force sufl&cient to prevent bloodshed, as it is my orders 
from the President to use every possible means to prevent collisions 
between belligerent troops. If desirable, I will accompany the forces 
myself, and should be glad to have you go along. 
"Truly yours, 

" Jno. W. Geary, 
" Governor of Kansas Territory." 

About one hour after this dispatch was sent to the camp of 
Colonel Cook, say at half-past two o'clock, on the morning of 
September 13th, that of&cer, with three hundred mounted 
soldiers and four pieces of artillery, and accompanied by 
Governor Geary, left for Lawrence, which town they reached 
at early sunrise. Here they learned that the danger was not 
so imminent as had been apprehended. The city was fortified 
at every poiiit, and the inhabitants generally under arms. 
There were not over three hundred men in the city. These 
were assembled together, and addressed at great length by the 
governor, who cautioned them against the commission of any 
unlawful acts, and promised them ample protection in case 
they should be attacked. 

He was received with much cordiality, listened to with 
marked attention and respect, and heartily cheered at the con- 
clusion of his speech. Finding no immediate necessity for 
his presence, and receiving intelligence that he was needed at 
Lecompton, in consequence of serious difficulties that had 
sprung up in that neighborhood, the governor made all pro- 
per arrangements for any emergency that might arise at Law- 
rence, and with Colonel Cook, and his command, returned to 
Lecompton in the afternoon of the same day. 



OUTRAGES AT OSAWKEE. 139 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Excitement at Lecompton. — Affidavit of W. F. Djer. — Requisition for 
troops. — The battle at Hickory Point. — Arrest of one hundred and one 
free-state prisoners. — The killing of Grayson, a pro-slavery man. — Treat- 
ment of the prisoners. — Conduct of Judges Lecompte and Cato. — Trial 
and sentence of the prisoners, and their subsequent treatment. 

Upon his return to Lecompton, the governor found his 
office beset with crowds of persons, all of them greatly ex- 
cited, and many seriously alarmed, in consequence of a sup- 
posed intended assault by a large body of men belonging to 
Lane's party, on the pro-slavery settlements at Hardteville, 
(known as Hickory Point,) Osawkee, and the surrounding 
neighborhoods. It was alleged that on that day, and several 
days previous, stores had been broken into and robbed, horses 
had been stolen, cattle driven off, and other similar outrages 
committed; and that there was abundant reason for appre- 
hension that additional atrocities were about to be committed. 
The inhabitants had hastily fled in terror from their dwellings, 
fearful that their lives were in danger, and numbers had 
made their way to Lecompton to seek protection and redress 
from the governor. 

Among the most importunate of the complainants was Dr. 
William H. Tebbs, a prominent member of the pro-slavery 
party. He, among others, insisted upon some immediate ac- 
tion being taken to secure the persons complained of, and to 
save the property declared to be endangered. It was quite 
late in the evening when the governor arrived, and during the 
night the excitement increased, as other settlers came in, each 
having some tale of horror to relate. There were no courts 
in session — no judges or magistrates at hand to hear these 
complaints and issue process against the offenders, in legal 
form. After much difficulty, a Mr. Dyer succeeded in find- 
ing a justice of the peace, before whom he swore and sub- 
scribed to the following affidavit, which he placed in the 
hands of the governor on Sunday morning, September 14th: 

** Territory of Kansas, Douglas County. 
"Personally appeared before a justice in and for Douglas county, 
Kansas Territory, William F. Dyer, and being duly sworn, says, that 
Col. Whipple, at the head of a hundred or more men, among whom 



140 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

were J. Ritchie, Ephraim Bainter, J. 0. B. Dunning, Captain Jamison, 
, and others not known to him, did, on Monday, September 8, 1856, 
rob him of six head of mules and horses, and various articles of 
merchandise, amounting in value to more than a thousand dollars ; 
and on Tuesday following, it being the 9th of September, 18o6, the 
same men robbed him of various articles of merchandise, amounting 
in value to over three thousancf dollars ; and that this day, it being 
Saturday, September 13, 1856, the same men were assembled at 
Osawkee, about 8 o'clock, A. M., as he believed for the purpose of 
robbing and burning the town and country round about, and attacking 
the town of Hardtville this evening. 

**W. F. Dyer. 
** Subscribed and sworn this 13th day of September, 1856, before 
me, R. R. Nelson, 

*' Justice of the Peace." 

Upon the receipt of this affidavit, the statements of which 
were confirmed by other reliable witnesses, a requisition was 
made upon Colonel Cooke, as follows : — 

"Executive Department, 

'^Lecompton, K. T., Sept. 14, 1856. 
*^CoL. P. St. G. Cook: 

*'Dear Sir: You will perceive by the accompanying affidavit, and 
from verbal statements that will be made to you by Dr. Tebbs, that 
a desperate state of affairs is existing at Osawkee and its vicinity, 
which seems to require some action at our hands. I strongly recom- 
mend that you send a force, such as you can conveniently spare, to 
visit that neighborhood, at the earliest moment. If such a force 
cannot succeed in arresting the perpetrators of the outrages already 
committed, and of which complaint has been made in due form, it 
may at least tend to disperse or drive off the band or bands of ma- 
rauders who are threatening the lives and property of peaceable citi- 
zens. The deputy marshal will accompany such troops as you may 
judge expedient to detail on this service. 

** Very respectfully and truly yours, 

<'Jno. W. Geary, 
** Governor of Kansas Territory." 

Colonel Cook immediately detailed a squadron of United 
States dragoons to pursue the alleged marauders, and protect 
the threatened neighborhood. They forded the river at Le- 
compton a little before sunset, and about midnight fell in with 
a party of men, of whom they made one hundred and one pris- 
oners, without resistance. This party was mostly mounted, 
and well armed with rifles, pistols and bowie-knives, and had one 
brass field-piece and several wagons, all of which were captured 
and brought into Lecompton early on the morning of Monday, 
September* 15th. They were said to be a detachment of Lane's 



TIGHT AT HICKORY POINT. 141 

forces, under command of Captain Harvey, and had come from 
Lawrence on Saturday the 13th, with a view to join a large body 
from Topeka. They had been engaged in an affray at Hickory 
Point, about twelve miles from Lecompton, and one mile from 
the place at which they were taken, on the afternoon of Sun- 
day. The full particulars of this fight and capture of the 
prisoners will be found in the governor's dispatch to Secretary 
Marcy, of the 16th September. • The prisoners at first denied 
having been guilty of any overt act, and claimed to have been 
peaceable citizens, banded together for mutual protection. But 
upon being taunted by some prominent pro-slavery men in 
regard to the dilemma in which they were placed,' they ac- 
knowledged the whole story of the Hickory Point fight, and 
made themselves merry in describing what they pronounced the 
cowardice of the opposite party. They called it a ^ free-fight,' 
in which they said all concerned were equally at fault. They 
seemed to apprehend no serious results from their capture; 
and some of them even proposed to the persons who were taking 
advantage of their helpless condition to insult them, that they 
should be allowed another opportunity to fight the matter out. 
^' We will give you two to one in numbers,' ' says one, ^^ and an 
equality of arms, if you will only give us an open field and 
fair play.'' Being asked if they had not read the governor's 
proclamation, one of the leaders readily and wittily replied, 
*^ Oh, yes, and before we commenced our fire upon the border- 
ruffians, we read the proclamation to them, and commanded 
them to surrender in the name of the governor." 

A man named Grayson was killed by a soldier shortly after 
the capture of these prisoners. He was a pro-slavery man, and 
had been acting as a guide to the troops. He attempted to 
pass the guard during the night, which was dark, when being 
hailed, he supposed he was accosted by an enemy, and suddenly 
turned and shot the sentinel in the shoulder. Another of the 
guard, witnessing the transaction, immediately discharged his 
pistol, the ball from which took effect in the breast of Grayson, 
killing him instantly. 

The prisoners were conducted to the United States encamp- 
ment on the outskirts of Lecompton, where they were detained 
some time without proper shelter from the weather or sufficient 
rations. Their preliminary examination was procrastinated to 
an unreasonable and almost criminal length of time by the 
supreme judges. A hearing was eventually given them by 
Judge CatO; which was somewhat partial in its character^ the 



142 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

prosecuting attorney being the celebrated Joseph C. Anderson, 
of Lexington, Mo., a member of the Kansas Legislature, the 
author of some of its most obnoxious laws, and notorious for 
his complicity with many of the grossest outrages committed 
by the pro-slavery party. The judge, who but a short time 
previous had been found in the encampment of as lawless men 
as those under examination, committed the whole party for 
trial on the charge of murder in the first degree. Nothing 
would be heard in mitigation of their offence ; nor would either 
Judge Cato or Judge Lecompte permit them to be discharged 
from custody, upon any amount or character of bail, although 
it was notoriously true that every pro-slavery man that had 
been arrested in the territory, no matter how heinous the crime 
or positive the proof, for which he was committed, had been 
set at liberty upon worthless bail, by these same officials ; the 
murderers of Barber, of Phillips, of Buffum, and others, were 
all liberated upon ^' straw bail,'' and some of them are now 
holding offices of responsibility under the federal government. 

It was quite palpable that some of these prisoners were com- 
paratively if not entirely innocent of any crime; but this fact 
had no weight upon the judges. They were free-state men, 
and that, in their estimation, was a crime sufficient to condemn 
them to imprisonment and death. There were many cases of 
peculiar hardship, one of which may be related. A poor 
German, who scarcely understood the nature of the political 
contest that was waging in the tei'ritory, was working in his 
field with a wagon and two horses, when the party for Hickory 
Point passed his house. Some of these being on foot, jumped 
into his wagon, and compelled him to drive them to the scene 
of action. This fact was clearly established, and the wretched 
wife of the prisoner came on foot a distance of nearly twenty 
miles, bringing with her six almost naked and bare-footed 
children, to plead to the governor in behalf of her husband. 
She told the story as it really occurred; represented her hus- 
band as an industrious and peaceable man, who had taken no 
part in any of the disturbances ; and declared that unless he 
was set at liberty, to procure them a livelihood, herself and 
children were in danger of actual starvation. Notwithstand- 
ing all this was satisfactorily established, and responsible gen- 
tlemen were willing to enter bail for the prisoner's appearance 
at court, the judges were inexorable, and refused, upon any 
terms, to discharge the unfortunate man. 

Colonel Cook finding it inconvenient to keep the prisoners 



TRIAL OF HICKORY POINT PRISONERS. 143 

at the encampment, and General Smith having issued an order 
for their removal, they were taken to a dilapidated house in 
Lecompton, and guarded by a company of militia under com- 
mand of Colonel H. T. Titus. Here their condition was truly 
deplorable. The building was insufficient in capacity for so 
many men, while no adequate means were at hand to provide 
them with food, clothing or bedding. Hence they were nearly 
starved; subject to constant insults from their guards; living 
in actual filth; overrun with vermin; and exposed to all the 
changes of the weather in the most severe and inclement sea- 
son of the year. 

The prisoners received their trial at the October term of the 
first district court, when some of them were acquitted, and 
others convicted of various degrees of manslaughter. These 
were sentenced to terms of confinement varying from five to 
ten years, at hard labor, and to wear a ball and chain. 

Sherifi" Jones, who was disappointed in not being allowed 
by the verdict to hang these prisoners, agreeably to his ex- 
pressed desire, was nervously anxious to see the ball and chain 
applied, and accordingly wrote to Governor Geary, then at Fort 
Leavenworth, as follows : — 

" Lecompton, Nov. 17, 1856. 
"Sir: — It is indispensably necessary that balls and chains should 
be furnished for the safety of the convicts under my charge, and 
understanding that the same can be procured by your application to 
General Smith, I will request that you will procure and have them 
sent over at the earliest day possible. 

"Very respectfully, your obedt. servt., 

" Saml. J. Jones, 
"Sheriff of Douglas county. 
*' His Excellency, Governor Geary, 

" Fort Leavenworth." 

To this application the governor replied, upon reaching Le- 
compton ; 

*' Executive Department, 
4 "Lecompton, K. T., Nov. 21, 1856. 

*' Samuel J. Jones, Esq., 

*' Sheriff of Douglas county. 
"Sir: In reply to yours of the 17th instant, received by me while 
at Fort Leavenworth, I have to remark that the master of convicts — 
a just and humane man — with the aid of such guard as he may re- 
quire, will take care of the convicts, who are, or may be placed under 
his charge, in such manner as may be deemed most advisable for the 
public interests. 

" General Smith has no balls and chains for the purpose indicated 



144 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

in your request — nor is it deemed advisable to procure any, while the 
trial of the remainder of the Hickory Point prisoners is unfinished. 
*'Very respectfully, your obedt. servt., 

Jxo. W. Geary, 
"Governor of Kansas Territory." 

On the next day, the governor addressed the following com- 
munication to Captain L. J. Hampton, whom, in accordance 
with an act of the territorial legislature, creating that ofl&ce, 
he appointed master of convicts. The remission of the ball 
and chain penalty excited the unconcealed anger of Jones, 
Clarke and other leaders of the pro-slavery party, whose male- 
dictions against the governor, for his clemency, were loud and 
unstinted. The Lecompton Union, over which they had con- 
trol, was unsparing in its denunciations : — 

'* Executive Department, 

** Lecompton, K. T., Nov. 22, 1856. 
*' L. J. Hampton, Esq., 

" Master of Convicts : 
"Sir: I have been requested by Sheriflf Jones to procure balls 
and chains, in accordance with 2d section, 22d ch. Kansas Statutes, 
for the safety of the prisoners recently convicted for manslaughter 
for participation in the Hickory Point fight. 

** Reposing especial trust and confidence in your integrity, humanity, 
and discretion, I have, in pursuance of the statutes, appointed you 
master of convicts, and placed them under your supervision. 

*' By the organic act, I am authorized to grant pardons and re- 
prieves for *all offences against the laws of the territory;' and 
esteeming the punishment as described in the said section as cruel 
and unusual, and especially inappropriate to the prisoners alluded 
to, I hereby remit that portion of their sentence requiring the use of 
* balls and chains,' and desire you to treat the prisoners with every 
humanity consistent with their safe-keeping. 

** Your obedient servant, 

*'Jno. W. Geary, 
** Governor of Kansas Territory." 

These prisoners were not all rough and desperate adven- 
turers. Some of them were gentlemen of polished education, 
who had graduated in the best institutions of learning, and 
belonged to the most respectable families in the country. It 
is true, they were convicted of the commission of an unlawful 
act ] but, in order to understand the merits of their case, it is 
necessary that all the circumstances connected with it should 
be fairly weighed and duly considered. The territory was in 
a state of insurrection and rebellion. The whole community 
was in arms. Aggressions had been committed by various 



THE FREE-STATE PRISONERS. 145 

parties, wtich had aroused on all sides a spirit of retaliation 
and revenge. These same prisoners had su£fered many and 
great abuses from their pro-slavery enemies ; and at the very 
time they attacked the settlement at Hickory Point, these lat- 
ter were marching in great force to effect their utter annihi- 
lation. 

Upon the disbanding of the militia in December, those of 
the prisoners that were left, one having died of privation and 
exposure, and others having made their escape despite the 
vigilance of their guards, were placed in charge of the master 
of convicts. Captain Hampton was a Kentuckian by birth, 
and a pro-slavery man; but possessed an honest heart and 
generous disposition. He treated the prisoners as though they 
were human beings, and with as much kindness and conside- 
ration as their relative positions would permit. He soon 
gained their confidence, and having no proper place for their 
safe confinement, and being required to keep them at work 
when labor could be obtained, he allowed them to go at large 
without a keeper, relying upon their own promise to return to 
his charge at any specified time. 

This conduct called down upon Hampton the vengeance of 
leading members of his party, who denounced him fiercely for 
his lenienc^, complained of him to the governor, and loudly 
demanded his removal from office. The most violent of those 
who condemned him were Sheriff Jones, the editors of the 
Lecompton Union, and L. A. Maclean, chief clerk of Sur- 
veyor Calhoun, every one of whom was guilty of greater 
offences against the laws than the worst man then in charge 
of the master of convicts. When the pro-slavery convention, 
which baptized itself into the name of the '^ National Democ- 
racy of Kansas,'' met in Lecompton, in January, Captain 
Hampton was violently assailed by Maclean, Jones and String- 
fellow, and his seat as a delegate contested, because, as it was 
maintained, his kind treatment of the free-state prisoners 
afforded ample proof that he was not and could not be a pro- 
slavery man. And for the same reason the Legislative Assem- 
bly refused to confirm his appointment. 

A good anecdote is told by a gentlemaii from one of the 
southern states, in regard to these free-state prisoners, when 
under the charge of Captain Hampton. Soon after his arri- 
val at Lecompton, he called upon the governor, and, in the 
course of conversation, expressed himself with considerable 
warmth against the prisoners who had committed such atro- 
13 K 



146 - HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

cious crimes as were charged against them in certain newspa- * 
pers that he had read. So horrible an idea had he conceived 
of the character of the men in question, that he could not find 
terms sufficiently strong to express his execration of their 
deeds. He unquestionably and honestly imagined that they 
were moral monsters of enormous magnitude. Having ex- 
pressed a desire to see these terrible robbers and murderers 
and assassins, as he styled them, the governor directed him to 
the prison, and assured him that by paying it a visit he might 
gratify his curiosity. 

He immediately started, and after reaching the designated 
neighborhood, and looking in vain for anything that resembled 
a prison, he approached two men, who were enjoying them- 
selves with a game of quoits. 

"Can you tell me/' he enquired, "where the prison is in 
which those great robbers and murderers are confined ?'' 

"That's it," said one of the men, pointing to a house near 
at hand. 

" What ! that old building, falling to pieces, without either 
doors or windows? You don't want to tell me that they keep 
murderers and thieves and other criminals there ?" 

" That is the only prison we have here," replied the man, 
deliberately pitching his quoit. 

" Well," says the southern gentleman, " I want to see those 
desperate murderers and assassins." 

"I am one of them," says the quoit-player, "and that is 
another," pointing to his companion. 

" What ! you convicted felons ? You the terrible murder- 
ers about whom I have heard so much ?" 

" Yes ; we are certainly two of them. The others are gone 
over to the House of Representatives, to hear the members 
abuse the governor." 

" But," says the old gentleman, " they don't allow convicted 
murderers to go about in this way, without a guard to watch 
them ?" 

" Oh, yes," says the man interrogated ; " they used to send 
a guard with us, whenever we went over to the Legislative 
Halls, to protect us against violence from the members ; but 
they found that too troublesome and expensive ; so they gave 
each of us a revolver and bowie-knife, and told us we should 
hereafter be required to protect ourselves." 

" But why don't you run away ? You have every opportu- 
nity. There is nothing to prevent you." 



THE CONVICTS PARDONED. 147 

'^ Why, to tell tlie truth, we have often been persuaded to 
do that ; but then, you see these rascally legislators have been 
threatening to assassinate the governor, and we have deter- 
nained to remain here to watch them, and protect him/^ 

The old gentleman had no desire to see any more of those 
desperate thieves, robbers, murderers and assassins. 

There were but seventeen convicts remaining in the custody 
of Captain Hampton on the 2d of March, at which time they 
were all freely pardoned by the governor, in compliance with 
numerous petitions, in which it was alleged that the prisonei^ 
had, previous to the difficulty for which they were arrested, 
uniformly '' maintained good reputations ; that the offence for 
which they were convicted, was committed in one of those 
political contentions, in which a great portion of the people 
of the territory took an active part, many of whom, though 
equally, if not more guilty, were still at liberty, and could 
never be brought to punishment ; that they had already suf- 
fered an imprisonment of nearly six months ; and that their 
continued punishment could neither subserve the ends of jus- 
tice, nor the interests of the territory/' 

It might, with propriety, have been added, in palliation of 
their offence, that the most of those with whom they had the 
affray at Hickory Point, comprised a company of pro-slavery 
men, under the command of one Captain Robinson, who were 
then on their way to join the Missouri army, about to destroy 
Lawrence, and that in their march from the northern portion 
of the state, they had committed many and grievous depreda- 
tions upon the free-state settlers, and the attack upon them 
was partly in retaliation for the wrongs they had inflicted. 



148 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

The Missouri army of invasion. — Letter from Theodore Adams. — Governor 
Geary proceeds with troops to Lawrence, and protects the town. — The 
governor visits the camp of the Missourians, addresses the officers, and 
disbands the forces. 

Whilst the governor was making his arrangements for 
quelling the disturbances at Osawkee and Hickory Point, dif- 
ficulties of a more serious nature were demanding his atten- 
tion in a different direction. Messengers were constantly ar- 
riving from Lawrence, bringing intelligence that a large army 
from JMissouri was encamped on the Wakarusa River, and 
was hourly expected to attack the town. As these men styled 
themselves territorial militia, and were called into service by 
the late acting-goverDor Woodson, Governor Geary commanded 
that officer to take with him Adjutant-General Strickler, with 
an escort of United States troops, and disband, in accordance 
with the proclamations issued, the forces that had so unwisely 
been assembled. Woodson and Strickler left Lecompton in 
the afternoon, and reached the Missouri camp early in the 
evening. 

Here Woodson found it impossible to accomplish tBe object 
of his mission. No attention or respect was paid to him by 
those having command of the forces. The army he had gath- 
ered, refused to acknowledge his authority. He had raised a 
storm, the elements of which he was powerless to control. 
Neither could the officers be assembled to receive the gover- 
nor's orders from the adjutant- general. The militia had re- 
solved not to disband; the officers refused to listen to the 
reading of the proclamation; they were determined upon ac- 
complishing the bloody work they had entered the territory to 
perform. Nothing but the destruction of Lawrence, and the 
other free -state towns, the massacre of all the free-state resi- 
dents, and the appropriation of their lands and other pro- 
perty, could satisfy them. Vengeance was theirs — they had 
now the power — and it should be executed. Governor Geary 
was denounced by such men as Clarke, Maclean, Stringfellow 
and Jones, and sentence of death was freely uttered against 
him, along the whole line of the encampment, should he dare 
to interfere. Nothing, now, could satisfy them but abolition 



Woodson's militia. 149 

blood. This they intended to wade through, and drink to 
satiety; nor would they stop at anything short of the utter 
extermination or ^^ wiping out'^ of Kansas, everything bearing 
the vestige of free-soilism. Never was collected together 
such a fierce and furious band. Little did they imagine that 
for every abolitionist they ^^ wiped out/' a hundred others 
would arise to revenge his death ! Little did they think that 
for every drop of blood they shed, rivers of their own would 
have been caused to flow! Had Governor Geary permitted 
them to execute their fiendish work, the sword of retribution 
would long since have fallen with dreadful power upon that 
murderous crew. The measure of their iniquity would have 
been full, and Heaven could no longer have held back the 
avenging arm of justice; and ere now^ the slave power, which 
has so long been bullying the freemen of the land, would have 
been swept into the ocean of eternity! The delusive hope 
that the north will not fight, would have been dispelled; for 
the weight would have been felt, of thousands of more power- 
ful and mighty arms than any that have ever laid the lash 
upon negroes' backs. The entire people of the south — every 
man, woman and child, of the slavery party — owe a debt of 
gratitude which never can be paid, to Governor Geary, for his 
timely presence and arrest of the bloody purpose of these hot- 
brained madmen! 

Mr. Adams, who accompanied Secretary Woodson to the 
Missouri camp, dispatched the following : — 

"Lawrence, 12 o'clock, midnight, 

*' September 14, 1856. 
" His Excellency, Governor Geary : 

*' Sir : I went as directed to the camp of the militia, and found at 
the town of Franklin, three miles from this place, encamped three 
hundred men, with four pieces of artillery. One mile to the right on 
the Wakai'usa, I found a very large encampment of three hundred 
tents and wagons. They claim to have two thousand five hundred 
men ; and from the appearance of the camp I have no doubt they 
have that number. General Reid is in command. I saw and was 
introduced to General Atchison, Colonel Titus, Sheriff Jones, General 
Richardson, &c. The proclamations were distributed. 

*' Secretary Woodson and General Strickler had not, up to the time 
I left, delivered their orders ; but were about doing so as soon as they 
could get the officers together. 

'' The outposts of both parties were fighting about an hour before 
sunset. One man killed of the militia, and one house burned at 
Franklin. 

12* 



150 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

*^ There were but few people at Lawrence, most of them having 
gone to their homes after your visit here. 

** I reported these facts to the officer in command here, and your 
prompt action has undoubtedly been the means of preventing the loss 
of blood and saving valuable property. 

*' Secretary Woodson thought you had better come to the camp of 
the militia as soon as you can. I think a prompt visit would have a 
good effect. I will see you as you come this way, and communicate 
with you more fully. 

** Very respectfully, your obedt. servt., 

" Theodore Adams." 

Before this dispatcli readied Lecompton, the governor had 
departed, with three hundred United States mounted troops 
and a battery of light artillery, and riding speedily, arrived at 
Lawrence early in the evening of the 14th, where he found 
matters precisely as described. Skilfully stationing his troops 
outside the town, in commanding positions, to prevent a col- 
lision between the invading forces from Missouri and the 
citizens, he entered Lawrence alone, and there he beheld a 
sight which would have aroused the manhood of the most 
stolid mortal, and which another writer has thus eloquently 
described : — 

'' About three hundred persons were found in arms, deter- 
mined to sell their lives at the dearest price to their ruffian 
enemies. Among these were many women, and children of 
both sexes, armed with guns and otherwise accoutred for battle. 
They had been goaded to this by the courage of despair. 
Lawrence was to have been their Thermopylae, and every other 
free town would have proved a Saragossa. When men deter- 
mine to die for the right, a hecatomb of victims grace their 
immolation; but when women and children betake themselves 
to the battle-field, ready to fight and die with their husbands 
and fathers, heroism becomes the animating principle of every 
heart, and a giant's strength invigorates every arm. Each 
drop of blood lost by such warriors becomes a dragon's tooth, 
which will spring from the earth, in all the armor of truth 
and justice, to exact a fearful retribution. Had Lawrence 
been destroyed, and her population butchered, the red right 
hand of vengeance would have gleamed over the entire South, 
and the question of slavery have been settled by a bloody and 
infuriated baptism. There are such examples in history, and 
mankind have lost none of their impulses or human emotions. 

'^ Gov. Geary addressed the armed citizens of Lawrence, 
and when he assured them of his and the law's protection, 



CAMP OF THE INVADERS. 151 

they offered to deposit their arms at his feet and return to their 
respective habitations. He bid them go to their homes in 
conlidence, and to carry their arms with them, as the Consti- 
tution of the Union guaranteed that right; but to use those 
arms only in the last resort to protect their lives and property, 
and the chastity of their females. They obeyed the governor 
and repaired to their homes.'' 

Early on the morning of the 15th, having left the troops to 
protect the town of Lawrence, the governor proceeded alone 
to the camp of the invading forces, then within three miles, 
and drawn up in line of battle. Before reaching Franklin, he 
met the advance guard, and upon inquiring who they were and 
what were their objects, received for answer, that they were 
the territorial militia, called into service by the governor of 
Kansas, and that they were marching to ^^ wipe out Lawrence 
and every d — d abolitionist in the country.'' Geary informed 
them that he was now Governor of Kansas, and commander- 
in-chief of the territorial militia, and ordered the officer in 
command to countermarch his troops back to the main line, 
and conduct him to the centre, that being his proper position, 
which order, after some hesitation, was reluctantly obeyed. 

The scene that was presented as the governor advanced, 
was one that no time nor circumstance can ever erase from his 
mind. The militia had taken a position upon an extensive 
and beautiful plain near the junction of the Wakarusa with 
the Kansas River. On one side towered a lofty hill, known 
as the Blue Mound, and on the other Mount Oread showed 
its fortified summit. The town of Franklin, from its elevated 
site, looked down upon the active scene, while beyond, in a 
quiet vale, the more flcj^rishing city of Lawrence reposed as 
though unconscious of its threatened doom. The waters of 
the Kansas River might be seen gliding rapidly toward the 
Missouri, and the tall forest trees which line its banks, plainly 
indicated the course of the Wakarusa. The red face of the 
rising sun was just peering over the top of the Blue Mound, 
as the governor with his strange escort of three hundred 
mounted men, with red shirts and odd-shaped hats, descended 
upon the Wakarusa plain. There, in battle array, were ranged 
at least three thousand armed and desperate men. They were 
not dressed in the usual habiliments of soldiers; but in every 
imaginable costume that could be obtained in that western 
region. Scarcely two presented the same appearance, while 
all exhibited a ruffianly aspect. Most of them were mounted, 



152 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

and manifested an unmistakable disposition to be at their 
bloody work. In the background stood at least three hundred 
army tents and as many wagons, while here and there a cannon 
was planted ready to aid in the anticipated destruction. 
Among the banners floated black flags to indicate the design 
that neither age, sex, nor condition would be spared in the 
slaughter that was to ensue. The arms and cannon also bore 
the black indices of extermination. 

In passing along the lines, murmurs of discontent and 
savage threats of assassination fell upon the governor's ears; 
but heedless of these, and regardless, in fact,, of everything 
but a desire to avert the terrible calamity that was impending, 
he fearlessly proceeded to the quarters of their leader. 

This threatening army was under the command of General 
John W. Reid, then and now a member of the Missouri 
Legislature, assisted by ex -senator Atchison, General B. F. 
Stringfellow, General L. A. Maclean, General J. W. Whitfield, 
General George W. Clarke, Generals William A. Heiskell, 
Wm. H. Richardson, and F. A. Marshal, Col. H. T. Titus, 
Captain Frederick Emory, and others of similar character. 
Some of these men have since been rewarded by the present 
administration with lucrative offices, if not for the valuable 
services they were about to render in this afi*air, at least for 
some others which the government has considered important. 

Governor Geary at once summoned the officers together, and 
addressed them at length and with great feeling. He depicted 
in a forcible manner the improper position they occupied, and 
the untold horrors that would result from the consummation 
of their cruel designs: that if they persisted in their mad 
career, the entire Union would be int^Dlved in a civil war, and 
thousands and tens of thousands of innocent lives be sacrificed. 
To Atchison, he especially addressed himself, telling him that 
when he last saw him, he was acting as vice-president of the 
nation and president of the most dignified body of men in the 
world, the senate of the United States; but now with sorrow 
and pain he saw him leading on to a civil and disastrous war 
an array of men, with uncontrollable passions, and determined 
upon wholesale slaughter and destruction. He concluded his 
remarks by directing attention to his proclamation, and ordered 
the army to be disbanded and dispersed. Some of the more 
judicious of the officers were not only willing, but anxious to 
obey this order; whilst others, resolved upon mischief, yielded 
a very reluctant assent. General Clarke said he was for 



THE ARMY DISBANDED. 153 

pitching into the United States troops, if necessary, rather 
than abandon the objects of the expedition. General Maclean 
didn't see any use of going back until they had whipped the 
d — d abolitionists. Sheriff Jones was in favor, now they had 
a suflficient force, of ^^ wiping out^' Lawrence and all the free- 
state towns. And these and others, cursed Governor Geary 
in not very gentle expressions, for his untimely interference 
with their well laid plans. They, however, obeyed the order, 
and retired, not as good and law-loving citizens, but as bands 
of plunderers and destroyers, leaving in their wake ruined 
fortunes, weeping eyes, and sorrowing hearts. 

The question has been asked, why was this army dispersed, 
and permitted to depart for their homes, whilst that at Hickory 
Point was captured, imprisoned, tried and convicted of a 
criminal charge? The answer is simple. These men had 
been called into service by the late acting-governor, and by 
him given authority as the duly constituted militia of the 
territory. As such Governor Geary was compelled to recognise 
them. They had committed no overt act against the laws of 
which they were accused and of which he could properly take 
cognisance, and all that he could do was to order them to dis- 
perse. Had they refused, and still kept up their military 
organization, they would have been placed in quite a different 
position, and Governor Geary could then have arrested them 
as violators of the peace. But they obeyed his order and 
disbanded. On the other hand, the party at Hickory Point, 
though morally as good, if not better men, were in arms not 
only without the sanction, but in open violation of law. With 
the governor's proclamation in their hands, commanding all 
unauthorized armed bodies instantly to disband or quit the 
territory, they marched against and stormed a settlement, 
killing one man and wounding several others, and almost in the 
very commission of this unlawful and overt act, they were cap- 
tured by the government troops. The whole difference, there- 
fore, between the two parties, is, not that one was morally 
worse than the other, but because one was acting by and the 
other against legal authority. 

On the 16th of September, the governor dispatched the 
following letter to Secretary Marcy : — 

"Executive Department, Lecompton, K. T., 

"Sept. 16, 1856. 
** Hon. Wm. L. Marcy, Secretary of State : 

"My Dear Sir: — M^ last dispatch was dated the 12th instant, in 



154 HISTORY or KANSAS. 

"wliich I gave you a statement of my operations to that date. Since 
then, I have had business of the deepest importance to occupy every 
moment of my attention, and to require the most constant watchful- 
ness and untiring energy. Indeed, so absolutely occupied is all my 
time, that I scarcely have a minute to devote to the duty of keeping 
you apprised of the true condition of this territory. I have this in- 
stant returned from an expedition to Lawrence and the vicinity, and 
am preparing to depart almost immediately for other sections of the 
territory, where my presence is demanded. 

"After having issued my address and proclamations in this city, 
copies of which have been forwarded to you, I sent them with a 
special messenger, to Lawrence, twelve miles to the eastward, where 
they were made known to the citizens on the 12th instant. The peo- 
ple of that place were alarmed with a report that a large body of 
armed men, called out under the proclamation of the late acting- 
governor Woodson, were threatening them with an attack, and they 
were making the necessary preparations for resistance. So well au- 
thenticated seemed their information, that my agent forwarded an 
express by a United States trooper, announcing the fact, and calling 
upon me to use my power to prevent the impending calamity. This 
express reached me at half-past one o'clock, on the morning of the 
13th instant. I immediately made a requisition upon Colonel Cook, 
commander of the United States forces stationed at this place, for 
as many troops as could be made available, and in about an hour was 
on my way towards Lawrence, with three hundred mounted men, in- 
cluding a battery of light artillery. On arriving at Lawrence we 
found the danger had been exaggerated, and that there was no imme- 
diate necessity for the intervention of the military. The moral effect 
of our presence, however, was of great avail. The citizens were sat- 
isfied that the government was disposed to render them all needed 
protection, and I received from them the assurance that they would 
conduct themselves as law-abiding and peace-loving men. They 
voluntarily offered to lay down their arms, and enrol themselves as 
territorial militia, in accordance with the terms of my proclamations. 
I returned the same day with the troops, well satisfied with the result 
of my mission. 

*' During the evening of Saturday, the 13th, I remained at my office, 
which was constantly thronged with men uttering complaints concern- 
ing outrages that had been and were being committed upon their per- 
sons and property. These complaints came in from every direction, 
and were made by the advocates of all the conflicting political senti- 
ments, with which the territory has been agitated ; and they exhib- 
ited clearly a moral condition of affairs, too lamentable for any lan- 
guage adequately to describe. The whole country was evidently in- 
fested with armed bands of marauders, who set all law at defiance, 
and travelled from place to place, assailing villages, sacking and 
burning houses, destroying crops, maltreating women and children, 
driving off and stealing cattle and horses, and murdering harmless 
men in their own dwellings and on the public highways. Many of 
these grievances needed immediate redress; but unfortunately the 
law was a dead letter, no magistrate or judge being at hand to take 



LETTER TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE. 155 

an aflBdavit or issue a process, and no marshal or sheriff to be found, 
even had the judges been present to prepare them, to execute the 
same. 

" The next day, Sunday, matters grew worse and worse. The 
most positive evidence reached me, that a large body of armed and 
mounted men were devastating the neighborhoods of Osawkee and 
Hardtville, commonly called Hickory Point. Being well convinced 
of this fact, I determined to act upon my own responsibility, and im- 
mediately issued an order to Colonel Cook for a detachment of his 
forces, to visit the scene of disturbance. In answer to this requisi- 
tion, a squadron of eighty-one men were detached, consisting of 
companies C. and H. 1st cavalry. Captains Wood and Newby, the 
whole under command of Captain Wood. This detachment left the 
camp at two o'clock, P. M., with instructions to proceed to Osawkee 
and Hickory Point, the former twelve, and the latter eighteen miles 
to the northward of Lecompton. It was accompanied by a deputy 
marshal. 

"In consequence of the want of proper facilities for crossing the 
Kansas River, it was late in the evening befoi^e the force could march. 
After haviDg proceeded about six miles, intelligence was brought to 
Captain Wood, that a large party of men, under command of a per- 
son named Harvey, had come over from Lawrence, and made an at- 
tack upon a log house at Hickory Point, in which a number of the 
settlers had taken refuge. This assault commenced about eleven 
o'clock in the morning, and continued six hours. The attacking 
party had charge of a brass four-pounder, the same that was taken 
by Colonel Doniphan at the battle of Sacramento. This piece had 
been freely used in the assault; but without effecting any material 
damage. As far as has yet been ascertained, but one man was killed, 
and some half-dozen wounded. 

** About eleven o'clock in the evening. Captain Wood's command 
met a party of twenty-five men, -with three wagons, one of which 
contained a wounded man. These he ascertained to be a portion of 
Harvey's forces, who had been engaged in the assault at Hickory 
Point, and who were returning to Lawrence. They were immedi- 
ately arrested, without resistance, disarmed and held as prisoners. 
Three others were soon after arrested, who also proved to be a por- 
tion of Harvey's party. 

*' When within about four miles of Hickory Point, Captain Wood 
discovered a large encampment upon the prairie, near the road lead- 
ing to Lawrence. It was the main body of Harvey's men, then under 
command of a man named Bickerton, Harvey having left after the 
attack on Hickory Point. This party was surprised and captured. 

"After securing the prisoners. Captain Wood returned to Lecomp- 
ton, which place he reached about day-break, on Monday the 15th 
instant, bringing with him one hundred and one prisoners, one brass 
field-piece, seven wagons, thirty-eight United States muskets, forty- 
seven Sharp's rifles, six hunting rifles, two shot guns, twenty revolv- 
ing pistols, fourteen bowie knives, four swords, and a large supply of 
ammunition for artillery and small arms. 

" Whilst engaged in making preparations for the foregoing expedi- 



156 HISTORT OF KANSAS. 

tion, several messengers reached me from Lawrence, announcing that 
a powerful army was marching upon that place, it being the main 
body of the militia called into service by the proclamation of Secre- 
tary Woodson, when acting-governor. 

*' Satisfied that the most prompt and decisive measures were neces- 
sary to prevent the sacrifice of many lives, and the destruction of 
one of the finest and most prosperous towns in the territory, and 
avert a state of affairs, which must have inevitably involved the coun- 
try in a most disastrous civil war, I dispatched the following order 
to Colonel Cook ; — 

" * Proceed at all speed with yo»jr command to Lawrence, and pre- 
vent a collision if possible, and leave a portion of your troops there 
for that purpose.' 

"Accordingly, the entire available TJuited States force was put in 
motion, and reached Lawrence at an early hour in the evening. 
Here, the worst apprehensions of the citizens were discovered to have 
been well founded. Twenty-seven hundred men, under command of 
Generals Heiskell, Reid, Atchison, Richardson, Stringfellow, and 
others, were encamped on the Wakarusa, about four miles from Law- 
rence, eager and determined to exterminate that place and all its 
inhabitants. An advanced party of three hundred men had already 
taken possession of Franklin, one mile from the camp, and three 
miles from Lawrence, and skirmishing parties had begun to engage 
in deadly conflict. 

"Fully appreciating the awful calamities that were impending, I 
hastened with all possible dispatch to the encampment, assembled the 
oflScers of the militia, and in the name of the President of the United 
States, deman'Ied suspension of hostilities. I had sent in advance, 
the secretary and adjutant-general of the territory, with orders to 
carry out the spirit and letter of my proclamations; but up to the 
tirje of my arrival, these orders had been unheeded, and I could dis- 
5c7er but little disposition to obey them. I addressed the officers in 
'jouncil at considerable length, setting forth the disastrous conse- 
quences of such a demonstration as was contemplated, and the abso- 
mte necessity of more lawful and conciliatory measures to restore 
peace, tranquillity, and prosperity to the country. I read my instruc- 
tions from the president, and convinced them that my whole course 
of procedure was in accordance therewith, and called upon them to 
aid me in my efforts, not only to carry out those instructions, but to 
support and enforce the laws, and the constitution of the United 
States. I am happy to say, that a more ready concurrence in my 
views was met, than I had at first any good reason to expect. It was 
agreed, that the terms of my proclamations should be carried out by 
the disbandment of the militia; whereupon the camp was broken up, 
and the different commands separated, to repair to their respective 
homes. 

" The occurrences, thus related, are already exerting a benificent in- 
fluence; and although the work is not yet accomplished, I do not de- 
spair of success in my efforts to satisfy the government that I am 
worthy of the high trust which has been reposed in me. As soon as 
circumstances will permit, I shall visit, in person, every section of 



THE COURTS AND JUDGES. 157 

the territory, where I feel assured that my presence will tend to give 
confidence and security to the people. 

'*In closing, I have merely to add, that unless I am more fully 
sustained hereafter by the civil authorities, and serious difficulties 
and disturbances continue to agitate the territory, my only recourse 
will be to martial law, which I must needs proclaim and enforce. 
Very respectfully, &c. 

"Jno. W. Geary. 
Governor of Kansas. Territory.** 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Improved condition of things. — Attempt to resurrect the courts and incite 
the judges to the performance of their duty. — Judges Burrell, Cato and 
Lecompte. — The examination and trial of free-state prisoners. — Direc- 
tions to Judge Cato. — Letters to the Supreme Judges. — Replies of Judges 
Cato and Lecompte. — Great criminals permitted to run at liberty. — 
Discharge of free-state men on bail. — Judge Lecompte's defence. 

The dismissal of the Missouri invaders, tlie arrest of Har- 
vey's party, and the departure of Col. Lane (which took place 
about this time) from the territory, were followed with the 
most beneficial effects. The prompt, bold^ rapid, and decisive 
movements of the governor struck the numerous predatory 
bands with terror, and they either dispersed, or fled the coun- 
try ; and a happier condition of things began to be apparent 
on every hand. 

The next important measure for the governor, was to resur- 
rect, if possible, the courts, and infuse new life and spirit and 
energy into the judiciary, who had not only been entirely ne- 
glectful of their duties, but were actually responsible for a 
great portion of the evils that had so long existed. The Pres- 
ident cannot be reprehended for not -appointing men of supe- 
rior legal attainments, or more than ordinary talent, to these 
offices ; for the inducements to accept them were insufficient 
for men of that description. Hence, he was in a measure 
compelled to make his selections from other material. But 
still he could have obtained men of mediocre ability, who 
possessed at least a small amount of integrity and legal knowl- 
edge, and some disposition to hold the scales of justice with 
an even hand. He certainly could not have chosen worse 



158 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

than he did for the necessities of the times and territory, had 
he canvassed the entire country with that sole determination. 

Judge Burrell was in the territory about ten days of the 
two years he held his appointment, the remainder of his time 
being passed at his residence in Greensburg, Pa., where he 
recently died. 

When Governor Geary visited the camp of Reid, as al- 
ready related, he found his honor, Judge Cato, performing 
the duties of a soldier in that ruffian army, and brought him 
thence to Lecompton, where, a short time afterwards, being 
in a tent of the militia, who had got possession of the arms 
of the free-state prisoners, and were making selections to ap- 
propriate to their own use, the judge was shot in the ankle by 
the accidental discharge of a revolver in the hands of a 
drunken fellow, named Hull. This disabled him for a consid- 
erable length of time ; but, after his recovery, he became the 
constant companion of the most worthless characters in Le- 
compton, was the daily associate of George W. Clarke and 
L. A. Maclean, and the room-mate, mess-mate and bed-fellow 
of Jones and Bennett of the Lecompton Union, the honor of 
writing and supervising the scurrilous and lying productions 
of which false and abusive sheet he was shrewdly, and per- 
haps not unjustly, accused of sharing with Surveyor Calhoun 
and the other worthies named. His knowledge of law was 
extremely meagre, and his sense of justice by no means deli- 
cate or refined. 

Chief-Justice Lecompte was a third or fourth-rate lawyer, 
from Maryland ; and though notoriously indolent and sluggish, 
has, during his two years' residence in Kansas, accumulated 
in valuable property a fortune of considerable magnitude. In 
most of the towns laid out by pro-slavery men he owns a 
goodly share of choice lots, presented to him, doubtless, more 
in regard to his virtues and talents, than for any favors he had 
bestowed, or was expected to bestow, in the discharge of his 
judicial functions. The judge owns a handsome place near 
Leavenworth City, to which he is so devotedly attached, that 
he finds it far more convenient to discharge prisoners on straw- 
bail, than travel twenty or more miles to hold courts and go 
through the troublesome forms of trial. He can always find 
time to strike a profitable bargain, make a good land specula- 
tion, or engage in any operation that will put money in his 
purse; but the duties of a judge are too insignificant to receive 



THE COURTS AND JUDGES. 159 

any special amount of attention ; hence he troubles himself 
but little with the matter of holding courts. An anecdote, 
somewhat characteristic, is almost universally told, and very 
generally believed, of him in Kansas. He adjourned the 
spring term of his court, it is said, to plant potatoes j the sum- 
mer term to hoe his potatoes; the fall term to dig his potatoes; 
and the winter term because he had to be at home to sell his po- 
tatoes. This, however, is probably somewhat of an exaggeration. 

When the governor returned from the Missouri camp, on 
the 15th, bringing Judge Cato with him, he found Lecompte 
at the capital, in compliance with a request forwarded to him 
at Leavenworth to that effect. On the 16th he had an inter- 
view with these two officials, in which he endeavored to im- 
press them with the importance to the territory and the coun- 
try, of proper judicial proceedings — of opening and holding 
courts; not only that prisoners #ould be justly disposed of, 
but that processes could be issued and criminals arrested. This, 
they were assured, must be done, or military law proclaimed 
and adopted. They both seemingly concurred in his views, 
and agreed to his expressed desires. 

At this time hundreds of persons were constantly pouring 
into the city, distracting the attention of the governor with 
pitiful complaints of atrocious outrages that were being com- 
mitted upon their persons and property. It was the province 
of the judges to hear these complaints and endeavor to redress 
the wrongs the people were suffering, adopt and prosecute mea- 
sures for the arrest and punishment of transgressors, and pre- 
vent a continuance of the crimes which were distracting the 
territory. 

On the 17th the governor accompanied a detachment of 
troops to arrest a party of alleged criminals at Topeka ; and 
upon his return, on the following day, learned, to his aston- 
ishment, that Lecompte had already left for his home in 
Leavenworth ; and that, instead of making arrangements for 
the immediate examination of the great number of prisoners 
collected at Lecompton, he had appointed a court for that pur- 
pose, to be held three weeks subsequently, at Leavenworth 
City, forty miles distant, and left directions to have the prison- 
ers conveyed there for trial. Had he adopted this procedure 
for the express purpose of defeating the ends of justice, and 
of stultifying all the exertions of the executive for the public 
welfare, he could not more effectually have accomplished that 



160 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

object. It would have been possible, though extremely diffi- 
cult, and unnecessarily expensive, to carry one hundred and 
twenty or more prisoners, then in custody, fifty miles to accom- 
modate Lecompte; but it would have been altogether impossible 
to give those prisoners a proper hearing and just trial at a 
place so far distant from where their offences were alleged to 
have been committed. The witnesses could not have been 
brought together at such a distance, in times when no unpro- 
tected traveller could pass the roads in safety, even were there 
in the way no other obstacles. This, Lecompte knew; and 
the whole arrangement afforded but another evidence, in addi- 
tion to the numbers he had already given, of imbecility and 
worthlessness during the entire period he had been in oiB&ce. 

Incensed at this conduct, and determined that the prisoners 
should have an early hearing in Lecompton, or be set at lib- 
erty, the governor addressed the following note to associate- 
justice Cato : — 

*' Executive Department, K. T., 

** Lecompton, Sept. 20, 1856, 
*' Judge Sterling G. Cato: 

*' Dear Sir: You will oblige me by fixing an early day for the exa- 
mination of the prisoners now held at the encampment of the United 
States troops in this district, and give proper and suflScient notice of 
the same. It is essential to the peace of the community and the due 
execution of the law, that this be effected at the earliest possible mo- 
ment. Some of these men have already been detained as prisoners 
six days without even a preliminary hearing. If at the time appointed 
and legally notified, no prosecutor appears, the alleged criminals 
should be discharged and permitted to repair to their homes and law- 
ful pursuits. 

** Truly yours, 

♦*Jno. W. Geary, 
*' Governor of Kansas Territory." 

In accordance with this demand, Judge Cato appointed a 
court and commenced an examination of the prisoners, during 
the prosecution of which he met with the accident mentioned, 
and the proceedings were postponed. The hearing and trials, 
however, were finally had, the result of which has been related 
in another place. 

Resolved, if possible, to awaken the judiciary to a sense of 
duty and obligation, or at least to obtain from them an account 
of their past stewardship, the governor addressed a letter of 
inquiry to each of the supreme judges, of which the following 
is a copy ; — 



THE COURTS AND JUDGES. 161 

"Executive Department, K. T., 

"September 23, 1856. 
** To THE Hon. Samuel D. Lecompte, 

*' Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Kansas Territory. 

'*Sir: Upon my arrival here I found this territory in a state of 
insurrection, business paralyzed, operation of the courts suspended, 
and the civil administration of the government inoperative and seem- 
ingly useless. 

" Much complaint has been made to me against the territorial 
officers, for alleged neglect of duty, party bias, and criminal com- 
plicity with a state of affairs which resulted in a contempt of all 
authority. 

*' I have therefore deemed it proper to address circulars to all ter- 
ritorial officers, in order that, being informed of the complaints 
against them, they may have an opportunity to vindicate themselves 
through my department. 

" The efficiency of the executive will be much impaired or strength- 
ened by the manner in which his subordinates in office discharge their 
respective duties. 

*' As it is my sworn duty to see that the laws are faithfully exe- 
cuted, I need offer no apology for requesting categorical answers to 
the following interrogatories : 

" 1st. When did you assume the discharge of the duties of your 
judicial office ? 

*' 2d. What counties compose your judicial district, and how fre- 
quently have you held courts in each county or in your district ? 

*' 3d. How many bills have been presented — how many ignored in 
your courts — how many indictments have been tried before you, and 
how many convictions had, and for what offences ? 

*' With a brief statement of other facts and circumstances, showing 
the manner in which you have discharged your duties, which you may 
be pleased to communicate. 

*' Very truly, your obedt. servt., 

*'Jno. W. Geary, 
*' Governor of Kansas Territory." 

Similar communications were addressed to all tlie territorial 
officers, the replies to wMcli are not of sufficient interest to 
receive a place in these pages. They all amount to precisely 
the same thing, to wit : that not one of the officials understood 
his duty, or had performed it. The offices appear to have been 
held, not so much for any good that could be accomplished, as 
for their honor and emoluments. 

From Judge Cato's reply, dated October 29th, it seemed 
that he had been in the territory about a year. He was ap- 
pointed to the second judicial district, composed of eight 
counties. He says : '' I held court in each of said counties, 
except Linn, last spring and summer, beginning at Franklin 
14* L 



162 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

on the third Monday of April, and ending at Shawnee on the 
second Monday of June last/' 

The only criminal cases that he had ever tried he speaks of 
thus : An '^ adjourned term of the court for Bourbon county 
was held to dispose of cases on the criminal docket, and the 
week was occupied in the trial of one case for murder and two 
for assaults with intent to kill. The case for murder resulted 
in an acquittal; one of those for assault with intent to kill, 
resulted in acquittal, and the other in a mistrial. These are 
the only trials of criminal cases held in my district.'' 

The answer of Chief Justice Lecompte is very wordy and 
lengthy, and, with accompanying documents, consisting of a 
defence of himself published in the newspapers, and an address 
to the members of the bar, would comprise a good-sized volume, 
all of which amounts to the simple fact, that, although he ar- 
rived in the territory in November, 1854, he had transacted 
no judicial business worthy of any note. He was assigned the 
first judicial district, comprising the counties of Doniphan, 
Atchison, Leavenworth, Jefferson, Calhoun and Douglas. In 
each of these counties one term of court, of a week's duration, 
was required by statute to be held during the year. ^^ All 
these were holden," he says, '' except that for Doniphan [in 
1855], which I was not able to reach for failure of the boats ;" 
and " except the last term for Jefferson county and for Cal- 
houn. These I did not hold because the recent commotions 
had just then arisen. It was considered utterly useless to hold 
court at either Osawkee, the county seat of Jefferson, or Cal- 
houn, the county seat of Calhoun, as neither juries, nor wit- 
nesses, nor suitors could be in attendance." . 

'' In almost all the criminal cases," he says, ^^ presented an- 
terior to the publication of the statute, nolle prosequies were 
entered by direction of the district attorney of the United 
States for the territory, upon the ground taken by him, that 
there was no law in force in the territory to punish them. 
The consequence is that few trials arose. ^ ^ ^ The only 
• convictions I remember are, one for horse-stealing in Doni- 
phan, and some three or four for assuming office ; one for ma- 
liciously killing a horse in Atchison county ; one in Jefferson 
county for selling liquor to Indians ; and perhaps some eight 
or ten in different counties, for selling liquor without license." 

Thus it appears that, although crimes of the blackest dye 
were daily and hourly being committed, and many of the cri- 
minals were arrested and indicted, the only convictions that 



THE TREASON CASES. 163 

could be obtained by the district courts, with three supreme 
judges, and a United States district attorney, in the space of 
two years, was one for stealing and another for killing a horse ; 
three or four for assuming office ; and some eight or ten for 
selling liquor without license. 

What became of the incendiaries, the robbers, the ravishers 
and assassins ? These were permitted to run at large, to burn 
houses and crops ; plunder stores and dwellings ; violate and 
k brand women ; steal horses and cattle ; and murder defence- 
less men in their own homes or on the public highways, with 
* impunity ! Or if they were arrested, they were immediately 
set at liberty again, upon worthless bail, by faithless judges, 
or discharged because of a nolle prosequi entered by the United 
States District Attorney, or acquitted by a verdict easily ob- 
tained from a packed jury of criminals like themselves. Su- 
preme judges and district attorneys had plenty of leisure and 
admirable opportunities to secure comfortable building lots and 
eligible claims, and to grow rapidly rich upon salaries insufficient 
to meet their daily wants ; whilst the worst felons ran at large, 
laughing to scorn the laws, and the holding of courts were 
nothing better than shameless farces, in which all interested 
found abundant sources of amusement. 

The judge's account of the dismissal upon bail of the pris- 
oners indicted for high treason, is sufficiently interesting to 
present to the reader. He says — 

'' It occurs to me as proper to add something in relation to 
the last term of court in Douglas county. This occurred soon 
after the late serious disturbances in the territory, the most 
serious part of which existed, as always, in this county. It 
seemed perfectly certain to me before I left home, that there 
was no probability of being able to dispose of any business. I 
deemed it my duty, nevertheless, in view of the peculiar im- 
portance of those cases pending under indictments for treason, 
to attend, the more particularly as the persons so indicted were 
held in confinement. 

^' As I went I met large numbers of persons coming from 
Lecompton towards Leavenworth, and when I reached Lecomp- 
ton, I found it almost deserted. No full jury, either grand 
or petit, was in attendance ; indeed not enough of both to 
constitute one. .The country, it was well understood, was equally 
abandoned by all those law and order men from which a jury 
could be selected. Under these circumstances it was perfectly 
clear that no business could be done. 



164 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

"Tbe cases of Kobinson and otliers, indicted for treason, 
were called. They tendered themselves ready for trial. The 
government was not ready , nor was there any officer to repre- . 
sent the government upon the trial. A motion was made by 
a gentleman deputed for that purpose, simply to continue the 
causes. I saw no alternative, but a trial, which, without rea- 
diness on the part of the government under the most peculiar 
circumstances, would have amounted to an acquittal, almost to 
a farce, and on the other hand, a continuance. The latter 
ultimatim was adopted. The question then remained, what 
was to be done with the prisoners? As they tendered them-^ 
selves ready for trial, I believed that to continue them in con- 
finement would be oppression. I therefore discharged them 
on bail/^ 

The United States Attorney, instead of being at Lecompton 
to try these cases, was in the border-ruffian army, marching 
towards Lawrence to massacre its inhabitants; and the '^laio 
and order'' men, who alone were fit, according to Judge Le- 
compte, to sit upon a jury, were flying in terror from Lecomp- 
ton, because of the reported approach of Lane. And on the 
afternoon of the same day upon which the alleged traitors were 
so generously set at liberty on bail, the guns of Lane were point- 
ing over the town, to discharge the prisoners, had they not 
already been dismissed, without the legal form of a bail-bond. 
How far this fact influenced the action of the judge, he has 
not thought proper to state. One thing is certain; these men 
had already been held in custody for months without a trial ; 
and it is quite probable that the government would never haue 
been ready for trial^ if its Kansas ministers could have con- 
tinued the prisoners in confinement with any degree of safety 
to themselves. Had the accused been pro-slavery men, there 
would have been no lack of readiness on the part of the go- 
vernment to try the cause, nor any difficulty on that of the 
court to secure an acquittal. 

An extract from that portion of the letter of Chief-Justice 
Lecompte, in which he attempts to repel the charges of official 
defection, will afford the reader some amusement even should 
it fail to convince him of the entire purity of the judge's 
ermine : — 

^' x\s to the charge of ' party bias,' he says, if it means simply 
the fact of such bias, I regard it as ridiculous; because I sup- 
pose every man in this country, with few exceptions indeed, 
entitled to respect, either for his abilities, his intelligence^ or 



lecompte's defence. 165 

his virtue, has a ^ party bias/ I am proud of mine. It has 
from my first manhood to this day, placed me in the ranks of 
the democratic party. It has taught me to regard that party 
as the one, par excellence, to which the destinies of this country 
'are particularly intrusted for preservation. 

"If it be intended to reach beyond that general application, 
and to charge a pro-slavery bias, I am proud, too, of this. I 
am the steady friend of southern rights under the Constitution 
of the United States. I have been reared where slavery was 
recognised by the constitution of my state. I love the insti- 
tution as entwining itself around all my early and late associa- 
tions ] because I have seen as much of the nobility of the 
human heart in the relation of master and servant, and on the 
part of the one as well as of the other, as I have seen else- 
where. I have with me now an old woman who left all to 
come with me, when it was purely at her discretion. Another 
• who did the same have I lost and buried with care and decency, 
at Fort Leavenworth. An old man has lately come to me 
under the care of a youthful nephew, within a few days, all 
the way from Maryland, and passing through every intervening 
free state, with a perfect knowledge of the fact, and making 
his own way through various interferences by his own inge- 
nuity. 

*' If it mean more than the fact, and to intimate that this 
^ party bias ' has affected the integrity of my official action, in 
any solitary case, I have but to say that it is false — basely 
false. 

" In relation to the other of ^ criminal complicity with a 
state of affairs which terminated in a contempt of all author- 
ity,' I will content myself with saying that it, too, is false — 
basely false, if made in relation to me, and to defy the slanderer 
to the proof of a solitary act to justify the deepest villain in 
such an assertion." 

Who, after that stout denial, will dare to question the in- 
tegrity or impartiality of Chief Justice Lecompte ? Who can 
any longer doubt that to the abolitionist he has always meted 
out the same mercy and justice that he has bestowed upon his 
opponents ? Who will pretend to affirm that Hays, the mur- 
derer of Buffum. would not have been as readily discharged 
from custody even had he been a free-state man or an aboli- 
tionist? The judge really seems to think himself innocent 
of the charge of '^ party bias;'' yet the loved institution of 
slavery is entwined around all his affections, and he could not 



163 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

hold his court because 'Hhe law and order men'' from which 
only he could select a jury, had fled from Lecompton. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

The murder of Buffum. — Warrant for the arrest of the murderer. — Partial 
conduct of ^he marshals. — Reward olQfered. — Indignation of free-state 
citizens. — Arrest of Charles Hays. 

When the army from Missouri was disbanded on the morn- 
ing of the 15th September, the great body of it returned at 
once to that state, by the Westport road, committing every 
atrocity in their power as they passed along. They burned 
the saw-mill at Franklin, stole a number of horses, and drove 
off all the cattle they could find. 

A detachment, calling themselves the '' Kickapoo Rangers,'' 
numbering about two hundred and fifty or three hundred men, 
under command of Col. Clarkson, took the road for Lecomp- 
ton, where they forded the river early in the afternoon, on 
their way to the northern part of the territory. This party 
was mounted and well armed, and looked like as desperate a 
set of ruffians as ever were gathered together. They still car- 
ried the black flag, and their cannon, guns, swords and car- 
riages were yet decorated with the black emblems of their 
murderous intentions. 

Six men of this detachment, when within a few miles of 
Lecompton, halted by a field where a poor inoffensive lame 
man, named David C. Buffum, was at work. They entered 
the field, and after robbing him of his horses, one of them 
shot him in the abdomen, from which wound he soon after 
died. The murderer also carried away a poney, belonging to 
a young girl, the daughter of a Mr. Thorn, residing in the 
neighborhood. 

Almost immediately after the commission of this wanton 
crime. Governor Geary, accompanied by Judge Cato, arrived 
upon the spot, and found the wounded man weltering in his 
blood. Although suffering the most intense agony, he was 
sensible of his condition, and perfectly mindful of the circum- 
stances that had transpired. Judge Cato, by direction of the 
governor^ took an affidavit of the unfortunate man's dying 



THE MURDER 0¥ BUFFUM. 167 

declarations. Writhing in agony, the cold sweat-drops standing 
upon his forehead, with his expiring breath he exclaimed, 
^' Oh, this was a most unprovoked and horrid murder ! They 
asked me for my horses, and I plead with them not to take 
them. I told them that I was a cripple — a poor lame man — 
that I had an aged father, a deaf-and-dumb brother, and two 
sisters, all depending upon me for a living, and my horses 
were all I had with which to procure it. One of them said I 
was a God d — d abolitionist, and seizing me by the shoulder 
with one hand, he shot me with a pistol that he held in the 
other. I am dying; but my blood will cry to Heaven for 
vengeance, and this horrible deed will not go unpunished. I 
die a martyr to the cause of freedom, and my death will 
do much to aid that cause." The governor was aflPected to 
tears. He had been on many a battle-field, and been familiar 
with suffering and death; but, says he, ^^ I never witnessed a 
scene that filled my mind with so much horror. There was a 
peculiar significance in the looks and words of that poor dying 
man that I never can forget ; for they seemed to tell me that 
I could have no rest until I brought his murderer to justice. 
And I resolved that no means in my power should be spared 
to discover, arrest, and punish the author of that most villan- 
ous butchery.'' 

On his arrival at Lecompton, the governor immediately had 
a warrant drawn and placed in the hands of the United States 
marshal, for the arrest of the murderer, for the execution of 
which warrant the whole of the United States force was at his 
disposal. Several days elapsed, and no return was made, nor 
had any disposition been discovered to effect the governor's 
wishes in the matter. 

In the mean time the marshal and his deputies were ex- 
tremely active in obtaining and executing warrants against 
free-state men, some of them upon the most trivial and un- 
warrantable charges. To accomplish this object, requisitions 
were daily made upon the governor for troops, until it became 
so annoying to himself, and evidenced so clearly a spirit of 
persecution on the part of the officials, that he was compelled 
to refuse compliance with these requisitions. Charges for 
offences alleged to have been committed months before, were 
trumped up, and the accused were hunted down, and thrust 
into prison, and there held until released by the intercession 
. of the governor, or upon an examination being demanded, no 
accuser or witness appeared. Mr. C. W. Babcock, postmaster 



168 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

at Lawrence, and several other respectable gentlemen, were 
arrested at Topeka, and brought to Lecompton as prisoners. 
A.S their names did not appear in the warrant held by the dep- 
uty-marshal who made the arrests, inquiry was instituted in 
regard to his conduct, when it appeared they were seized under 
the general appellation of ^^ others/' the warrant demanding 
the arrest of certain parties named, ^^ and others/' They were 
free-state men, or abolitionists, and that fact was sufficient to 
justify the outrage. 

Whilst these proceedings were being conducted with surpris- 
ing and admirable industry and activity, and additions were 
almost every hour being made to the swelling crowd of free- 
state prisoners, not one arrest had yet been made of a pro- 
slavery man. The murderer of Barber ran at large, and was 
daily in conversation with the marshal, and drinking whiskey 
with the sheriff. Buffum's murderer, though known, was 
unsought. John H. Stringfellow, Ira Morris, James A. Head- 
ley, William Martin, Captain Parker, William Simmons, and 
many others, all pro-slavery men, and charged with serious 
crimes, were at liberty, though warrants against them were in 
the marshal's hands, and the governor had given him requisi- 
tions upon General Smith and Col. Cook for a sufficient num- 
ber of troops to secure their persons. 

Justly indignant at the one-sided policy that was clearly 
being pursued by the territorial officers, the governor addressed 
the following note to Marshal Donalson : — 

''Executive Department, K. T., 

** Lecompton, Sept. 18, 1856. 
*' I. B. Donalson, Esq., 

" United States Marshal, K. T. 
*'Sir: A warrant was issued a day or two since for the arrest of 
the murderer or murderers of Mr. Buffum at or near the residence of 
Mr. Thorn. Please report to me whether that warrant has been exe- 
cuted, or whether any attempt has been made to arrest the ofifenders 
in this case, and what has been the result. 
"Yours, &c., 

"Jno. W. Geabt, 
*' Governor of Kansas Terr "lory." 

The reply to this note showed that, while the deputy-mar- 
shals were extremely active in executing warrants against free- 
state men, some of whom had committed no offence, they had 
no time to devote to such scoundrels as the assassins of Buf- 
fum. The marshal says : — 



OFFICIAL PARTIALITY. 169 

" I have to report, tliat upon making inquiry of my deputy, 
Samuel Cramer, he informed me, that when the militia from 
the north side of the river were passing through this place on 
Monday last (returning to their homes), he made diligent 
inquiry, and used all the means in his power to ascertain who 
the murderer or murderers of said Buffum were, with a view 
to their arrest; but from the vagueness of the affidavit on 
which the warrant was procured, in which no names are men- 
tioned, nor any particular description of their persons, or any- 
other thing about them, except ^^six men^^ in the rear or be- 
hind a company, he failed to identify or arrest the murderer 
or murderers/' 

This reply fully satisfied the governor that every attempt to 
secure the murderer by means of the warrant issued, must 
prove futile. To put such a warrant in the hands of Samuel 
Cramer, whose prejudices against the free-state and in favor 
of the slavery party were unsurpassed in bitterness by those 
of any other man in Kansas, was equivalent to giving him an 
order for the criminal's escape. Hence other measures were 
pursued to accomplish the ends of justice. The governor em- 
ployed secret agents to visit Atchison county, the residence 
of the Kickapoo Rangers, and by making careful and diligent 
inquiries, to obtain some clue to the perpetrators of the deed 
in question. 

He also issued a proclamation, offering ^'a reward of five 
hundred dollars for the arrest and conviction of the murderer 
or murderers of David C. Buffum, of Douglas county, to be 
paid immediately upon the convi<;tion of the author of this 
great outrage." 

The consequence was, that the peace, which by his prompt, 
fearless, and energetic action, the governor had promoted, was 
again threatened and in danger. The free-state people were 
justly incensed at the wrongs they were suffering, and for 
which they saw no means for redress. Their relatives and 
friends were being torn from them, without cause, and incar- 
cerated in a filthy prison, without proper food or clothing, or 
accommodations fitted for dogs, for weeks and months, without 
a conviction for crime, or even a trial, whilst well-known rob- 
bers and murderers of the opposite party were permitted to 
come to their very prison doors and insult them with oaths and 
jeers. Murmurs of discontent arose on every hand, and, like 
the distant hum of the ocean, or the far-off muttering of thun- 
der, rolled into the executive office. Many who had placed 
15 



170 HISTORY OF KANSAS 

implicit confidence in the governor, and who looked patiently 
to him for protection and redress, began to question his integ- 
rity and impartiality, and suspect him of having a secret com- 
plicity with the other federal and territorial officers, who, 
without an exception, were their enemies and persecutors. 
Even his expressed determination to secure the assassin of 
Buffum, and his proclamation to that effect, they began to 
regard as intended only to blind and deceive. The free-state 
people thought they saw no hope for themselves save in God 
and their own right hands, and they began to take down from 
their resting places, and make ready, their arms. They pre- 
ferred to fall defending their lives and property with these, 
than suffer and die like slaves. Nor were they hasty or un- 
reasonable. The wretched prison-house was crammed with 
their associates, many of them innocent of any offence save 
that of being opposed to slavery; whilst, if one of the ruffians 
was arrested by mistake or compulsion, he was instantly re- 
leased by the judges upon what was known to be worthless 
bail. 

At length, early in November, reliable information was re- 
ceived, that the murderer of Buffum was a man named 
Charles Hays, a member of the band of Kickapoo Rangers, 
and living in Atchison county. A new warrant was accord- 
ingly issued for his arrest, the marshal ordered to execute it 
without delay, and in a few days Hays was brought a prisoner 
to Lecompton. A grand jury, composed entirely of pro-slav- 
ery men, on hearing the positive and overwhelming testi- 
mony against him, found a true bill, and committed him for 
trial, on the charge of murder in the first degree. Whilst the 
governor was congratulating himself upon the certainty of 
bringing this murderer to punishment, and thus vindicating him- 
self from the charge af complicity with the other officers in 
screening from justice all pro-slavery offenders, as well as re- 
storing the failing confidence in his impartiality, there were par- 
ties busily at work to thwart him in his just determination, 
and embarrass still more than ever his administration. 



LECOMPTE DISCHARGES THE MURDERERS. 171 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Discharge of Hays by Judge Lecompte. — Order for his re-arrest. — Conduct 
of Marshal Donalson. — Col. Titus re-arrests Hays, who is again set at 
liberty by Lecompte on a writ of habeas corpus. — President Pierce 
and the United States Senate on the case of Lecompte. — Letter from 
Secretary Marcy asking explanations. — Governor Greary's reply. — Judge 
Lecompte's letter of vindication. 

On the loth of November several members of the free-state 
party, all gentlemen of intelligence and respectability, and 
citizens of the territory, called upon the governor to protest 
against the abuses they were suffering from the partial manner 
in which the government was conducted. They complained 
loudly and emphatically of the fact that while no efforts were 
made to arrest pro-slavery criminals, or that if arrested, they 
were immediately discharged on bail, numerous free-state men 
were being seized almost daily by the officers, thrust into prison, 
and there detained, all their importunities to give bail being 
repulsed by Judge Lecompte and other pro-slavery magis- 
trates. 

The governor was vindicating his own policy, and the im- 
partial and independent course of the grand jury as evinced by 
their recent action at Lecompton. They had found true bills, 
he said, against a number of prominent pro-slavery men, 
among whom was Charles Hays for the murder of Buffum. 
The men indicted, he continued, are pro-slavery men, and have 
position and influence in the community ; and yet their posi- 
tion has not been so exalted as to screen them from the search- 
ing scrutiny of an independent grand jury, though summoned 
under pro-slavery auspices. 

The governor dwelt upon the murder of Buffum, described it as 
it really occurred, narrated the circumstances of his interview 
with the dying man, and said that he had left no means untried 
to secure the murderer, and that it was a cause of great gratulation 
to him that the grand jury had so promptly done their duty in 
the matter after the officers had succeeded in making the arrest. 
Now, concluded the governor, you perceive that a disposition 
does exist to do equal and exact justice, and that a determina- 
tion prevails to bring criminals of all parties to punishment. 

He had scarcely completed the last sentence when several 
persons entered, one of them remarking that Judge Lecompte 



l72 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

had admitted Charles Hays, the murderer of BufFum, to bail, 
and that Sheriff Samuel J. Jones, a man notoriously not worth 
a dollar, was on his bail-bond. 

The governor was astounded. He could scTircely accredit 
what he heard. All his arguments were scattered to the winds. 
He no longer doubted his true position. The cloud was dis- 
persed, and he saw precisely where he stood. He was alone in 
the territory. He was not only m)t supported by a single 
officer sent there by the general government, but every one 
of them was exerting his influence and power to oppose his 
efforts to do justice to the people and secure the peace he had 
effected. He saw himself surrounded by a combination of 
official traitors, banded together to embarrass all his just opera- 
tions for the public good. He had devoted much time, ex- 
pended over two hundred dollars, and offered a reward of five 
hundred more, to secure the person of one of the foulest mur- 
derers that ever disgraced the human form. No sooner had he 
accomplished this object — at a time when it was of the utmost 
importance to allay the rising excitement of an aggrieved peo- 
ple, and to satisfy them of his honest intentions to do justice 
to all men — than the chief-justice steps forward and sets the 
criminal free. He saw at a glance that he must now assume 
weighty responsibilities, and act independently and for him- 
self, as the government had surrounded him with men who were 
resolved Urpon frustrating the impartial policy he had come to 
enforce. No other course was left to keep down the smoul- 
dering volcano that was about to break forth with fearful vio- 
lence, or prevent a civil war, the elements for which were 
gathering. He knew that he must act promptly and decisively, 
and in such a manner as to convince the people of the terri- 
tory that he looked with detestation upon the conduct of Le- 
compte, and was disposed to annul his action. No other policy 
was left, else in another day a thousand bayonets would have 
glistened in the sunbeams, and a thousand strong hearts, 
aroused to vengeance, would have been marching toward Le- 
compton to set at liberty the free-state prisoners, and chastise, 
as they merited, those who held them in unjust confinement. 

'' You see how it is, governor,^' said the free-state men ; 
'' all our statements are confirmed. Did not Judge Lecorapte 
refuse to entertain a motion to have evidence in the case of 
the free-state men charged with the Hickory Point murder, 
to ascertain whether the offence was bailable, as it afterwards 
turned out to be by the verdict of the jury only finding man- 



GOV. GEARY RE-ARRESTS HATS* 173 

slaughter ? In these eases the motion to admit to bail was 
made before hill founds when the right was unquestionable ; 
but in the case of Buffum, after the grand jury had maturely 
considered the matter, and found a true hill against Charles 
Hays for murder in the first degree, this murderer is imme- 
diately bailed, and without authority of law or precedent for 
so glaring ^n act, is set at large. The free-state men,'' conti- 
nued they, ^^ can no longer expect even-handed justice^ and 
their only hope must be in physical force/' 

The governor replied that he was conscientious on the sub- 
ject ; he was instructed to preserve the peace of the territory, 
and to exercise his discretion as to the means to be employed; 
and was sworn to, and would at all hazards, discharge his duty 
as he understood it. He boldly pronounced the action of 
Chief Justice Lecompte in dismissing the murderer of Buffum, 
after the grand jury had found a hill of indictment against 
him for murder in the first degree^ as a judicial outrage, and 
under the circumstances, without precedent, as highly dis- 
courteous to himself, he having been the means of arresting 
Hays, and should have been consulted ) as greatly calculated 
to endanger the puhlic peace^ and to destroy the entire in- 
fluence of the policy he was laboring day and night to inaugu- 
rate ; and to bring the court and judiciary into contempt. 

He declared that he would treat the decision of Judge Le- 
compte as a nullity, and proceed upon the indictment for 
murder to re-arrest Hays as though he had merely escaped, and 
would submit the matter to the president, feeling assured that 
he would permit no judicial officer to forget his duty and trifle 
with the peace of the territory by making decisions abhorrent 
to public justice, and grossly steeped in partiality. He ac- 
cordingly issued the following warrant : 

*' Executive Department, K. T., 

** Lecompton, Nov. 10, 1856. 
**I. B. DoNALSON, Esq., 

'* Marshal of Kansaa Territory. 
*'Sir: An indictment for murder in the first degree having been 
duly found by the grand jury of the territory against Charles Hays, 
for the murder of a certain David C. Buffum, in the county of Douglas 
in this territory, and the said Charles Hays having been discharged 
upon bail, as I consider in violation of law, and greatly to the endan- 
gering of the peace of this territory : 

** This is therefore to authorize and command you to re-arrest the 
said Charles Hays, if he be found within the limits of this territory, 
15 * 



174 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

and safely to keep him until he is duly discharged by a jury of his 
country, according to law. 

J, _ " Given under my hand and seal at the city of Lecompton, 

{1 the day and year first above written. 
SEAL, j- **.Jno. W. Geary, 

J ** Governor of Kansas Territory.*' 

This warrant was handed to Marsbal Israel B. Donalson, 
who was in the executive office during the foregoing occur- 
rences. He, however, declined to execute it, saying he would 
take time to consider the matter, and give his answer in 
writing. 

The marshal retired, and the governor immediately made 
out a duplicate warrant, and placed it in the hands of his spe- 
cial aid-de-camp. Col. H. T. Titus, with orders to take a file of 
men and execute it without delay, as, while the 7narshal was 
considering the matter. Hays would escape. Colonel Titus 
promptly obeyed the order, and departed on his mission, the re- 
sult of which is given in the following report : — 

" Lecompton, Nov. 12, 1856. 
" His Excellency, J. W. Geary, 

*' Governor of Kansas Territory. 
** Sir : In pursuance of your warrant of 10th instant, I proceeded to 
the residence of Charles Hays and arrested him, brought him to this 
place, and now hold him subject to your further order. 
*' Your obedient servant, 

" H. T. Titus." 

In the meantime Marshal Donalson had considered the 
matter, and declined to execute the order for the re-arrest of 
Hays, concluding his answer in writing with the following 
paragraph ; — 

^^ Your determination, as expressed this evening, (if I re- 
fused to execute your order), to suspend me or procure my 
discharge by the president, induces me to say that I have some 
days since determined to discontinue my present official rela- 
tions with this territory ] and I now desire the favor of you to 
assure the president of my gratitude for his confidence and 
kindness, and ask him to relieve me from my present position 
as soon as may be convenient/' 

Hays remained in the custody of Colonel Titus until Gover- 
nor Geary visited Leavenworth City, on the 17th November, 
to attend the public sales of the Delaware lands. During his 
absence Hays was again discharged by Judge Lecompte on a 



INTERESTING CORRESPONDENCE. 175 

writ of habeas corpus, as shown in the subjoined communica- 
tion from Colonel Titus : — 

«'Lecompton, Nov 21, 1856. 
** His Excellency, John W. Geary, 

*' Governor of Kansas Territory. 
"Sir: I have the honor to state that during your recent absence 
from this place, a writ of habeas corpus, issued by Chief Justice Le- 
compte, was served upon me, by which I was commanded to produce 
the body of Charles Hays before him, with the cause of his detainer '. 
** That in obedience to the writ, I caused the body of Hays to be 
produced before Judge Lecorapte, and returned as the cause of his 
detention the finding by the grand jury of a true bill of indictment 
against him for murder in the first degree, committed upon the per- 
son of one David C. Buffum, together with your warrant, commanding 
the re-arrest of the said Hays and his detention until his discharge 
by a jury of his country according to law. 

"I have further to state that Judge Lecompte discharged the said 
Hays from my custody notwithstanding my return, and that he is 
now at large. I have the honor to remain, 

** Your obedient servant, 

*' H. T. Titus.'' 

The governor did not attempt to interfere with this writ of 
habeas corpus. His action in the case had satisfied the free-state 
people that he had no complicity whatever with the partial 
policy of the other officers, and that he would do them justice 
to the full extent of his power. He therefore contented himself 
with forwarding to the president and secretary his executive 
minutes, containing a history of the circumstances as above 
related, and showing the necessity for a less partial judiciary 
in order to preserve the peace of the territory, and enable him 
to enforce their own instruct^* ons. 

President Pierce forthwith nominated Mr. C. 0. Harrison, 
of Kentucky, to the Senate, as successor to Lecompte, without, 
however, issuing a writ of supersedeas, which was a sufficient 
reason for the Senate to withhold their confirmation of Mr. 
Harrison's appointment. Neither the president nor the Senate 
were disposed to assume a responsibility in the matter ; and 
Judge Lecompte, not being superseded, remained in office, to 
the enthusiastic delight of the pro -slavery party, and to the 
still further annoyance of Governor Geary, and the embarrass- 
ment of his honest and judicious administration. 

While the question was pending before the Senate, which 
was nothing more than one of those political farces so often 
enacted to dazzle the vision of the people, who are not per- 



176 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

mitted to look behind the scenes, Secretary Marcy forwarded 
the following dispatch to Governor Geary : — 

** Department of State : 

** Washington, 4th February, 1857. 
**To John W. Geary, Esq., 

** Governor of Kansas, Lecompton. 
"Sir: — The original letter of which the inclosed is a copy, was 
brought to the notice of the president, a few days since, by Hon. 
James A. Pearce, of the United States Senate. The discrepancies 
between the statements of this letter and those contained in your 
official communication of the 19th of September, last, are such, that 
the president directs me to inclose you the copy for explanation. 
** I am, sir, respectfully, your obed't serv't. 

«*W. L. Marcy." 

To this insulting epistle the governor immediately made the 
following laconic reply : — 

** Executive Department, Kansas Territory, 

** Lecompton, February 20th 1857. 
**Hon. Wm. L. Marcy, 

** Secretary of State. 

"Sir: — Your dispatch of 4th instant, enclosing me a copy of 

■ Judge Lecompte's letter in the Hays case, and calling my attention 

* to the discrepancies between the statements of that letter, and those 

contained in your (my) official communication of 19th of September, 

last,' and requesting * explanation,' was received by last mail. 

"In reply, I have simply to state, that * what I have written, I 
have written,' and I have nothing further to add, alter, or amend on 
this subject. 

" My executive minutes, faithfully chronicling my official actions, 
and the policy which dictated them at the time they occurred, and 
my various dispatches to the government, contain but the simple 
truth, told without fear, favor, or affection, and I will esteem it a 
favor to have them all published for the inspection of the country. 

"Your obed't servant, 

"Jno. W. Geary, 
"Governor of Kansas Territory.'* 

The letter of Lecompte embraced some twenty or more pages 
of foolscap, written in his usual wordy and indefinite style. 
That portion of it which relates directly to the Hays case, fully 
sustains all that was affirmed in the executive minutes con- 
cerning that subject. 

He says: ^^I take pleasure in furnishing you the facts in 
the Hays case, which, I see by your letter, as well as by news- 
paper items, has obtained a notoriety vastly disproportioned to 
its real consequence. 

" On the last day of the term of my court^ held at Lecomp* 



REASONS FOR DISCHARGING HAYS. 177 

ton for the first district, application was made by the counsel 
for Hays for bail. Understanding that he was indicted for 
murder, I observed that I could not admit to bail, unless tes- 
timony was offered tending to acquit him of the charge. I 
was asked by his counsel whether I would hear such testimony. 
The term of the court being limited, and that being the last 
day of its session, I said I would. A witness was called, who 
stated that he was with the prisoner on the day named in the 
indictment, and that they were coming in company from Le- 
compton to Leavenworth. 

'^ I inquired for and had called the witnesses on the part of 
the territory. They were not in attendance. The matter being 
submitted on the evidence, and some observations by his coun- 
sel, who claimed to have thus furnished proof of an alibi, I 
declined to admit him to bail, stating as my reason that I did 
not consider the day named as an averment material to be 
proved, and that, while the proof exonerated him from the 
charge on that day, it was possible, and consistent with the 
evidence offered, that he was guilty of the crime on another 
day, before or after, and committed him to the custody of the 
marshal. 

^^ In the afternoon, by his counsel, he asked permission to 
offer other and additional testimony, to have a further bearing 
upon his application. This I granted. Some two or three 
(three, I think) other witnesses were sworn, who concurred in 
saying that they were with Hays in the ranks of the militia, 
returning from Lawrence to Lecompton, on the day of the 
murder, and that he was in the ranks during the day, and that 
they frequently saw him. I again had the witnesses for the 
government called. They not being forthcoming, I stated that 
I was not fully satisfied to bail. At this moment the district 
attorney, prosecuting on behalf of the government, arose and 
stated that he knew Hays well; that he was a neighbor of 
his ; and that he had full confidence that Mr. Hays could give 
good bail, and should be forthcoming to answer the charge, if 
bail were allowed; and that he had no objection to his being 
admitted to bail. 

^^ I immediately replied, that being the case, if he can give 
sufficient security in the sum of ten thousand dollars, I will 
take it. It was immediately given, and he was discharged. 

^' But for subsequent occurrences, I know not that I should 
have thought of the matter again from that day to this. It 
attracted no more of my attention than any other case upon 
M 



178 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

whicli I have acted. I never heard the matter mentioned, as 
I now recollect, except as I have detailed it. * * * * 

^' To my infinite surprise, I learned from the marshal, who, 
passing my house, called to see me the next Wednesday, that 
the governor had ordered him to re-arrest Hays, and that, upon 
his refusal, Colonel Titus had been ordered to re-arrest him, 
and had left Lecompton for that purpose. 

" A day or two afterwards, application was made to me by 
Hays for an habeas corpus. This I issued. Being brought 
before me on the return day, and the matter being submitted, 
I discharged him.^' 

Such is Chief-Justice Lecompte's version of the affair, given 
in vindication of his conduct — a version which must condemn 
him in the estimation of every man acquainted with the facts. 
The most of his statements are true — strictly true — and hence 
the less excuse for his conduct. 

The history of the case is simply this. The ^' Kickapoo ' 
Kangers,^' of which company Hays was a member, left Law- 
rence early in the morning of the murder, reached Lecompton 
about noon, crossed the river shortly afterwards, and proceeded 
northward toward Atchison on the same day. 

When near Lecompton, six of this company left the ranks, 
and one of them murdered Buffum, stole his horses and the 
horse of Miss Thom, and rejoinded the company; the time 
occupied in the murder and robbery not exceeding, perhaps, 
five minutes. 

The testimony upon which Hays was committed, clearly 
and positively established that he left the ranks; that he was 
absent long enough to commit the crimes alleged ; that he was 
seen to take Buffum by the shoulder with one hand, and to 
shoot him with the other, calling him, as the dying man tes- 
tified, a d d abolitionist; and that he was in possession 

of the stolen horses. 

With these facts before him, and with which Judge Le- 
compte was perfectly familiar, application was made for the 
discharge of Hays on bail,- and witnesses were offered by the 
district attorney, an associate of the criminal, to prove an 
alibi. The judge called the witnesses for the prosecution, 
knowing that they were more than fifty miles distant, and, of 
course, they did not answer. He then heard the evidence to 
prove an alibi. This went to show pi^ecisely icJiat the prose- 
cution had proved, that Hays was " in the ranks of the inilitiay 
returning from Lawrence to Lecompton^ on the day of the 



lecompte's impartiality. 179 

murder^ and that lie was in the raiihs during the day, and 
thaV^ the witnesses '' frequentli/ saw him;'' also^ that on the 
afternoon of the same day, Hays was on the north side of the 
Kansas River, still in the ranks of the militia, marching from 
*^ Lecompton to Leavenworth,'' All this was strictly true, 
and the witnesses for an alibi might also have added, that, 
when on the north side of the river, Hays had with him the 
stolen horses, one o*f which was subsequently returned to Miss 
Thorn, the owner, by Colonel Clarkson, commander of the 
^^ Rangers,'' upon a requisition from Governor Geary. 

How the chief-justice could discover any evidence in this 
testimony with which to prove an alibi, was a matter for won- 
der and amusement even to his friends. It was, however, 
quite sufficient to satisfy his judicial understanding, and he 
immediately said that if Hays could give " sufficient security 
in the sum of ten thousand dollars, he would take it." Where- 
upon Samuel J. Jones, sheriff of Douglas county, offered him- 
self as sufficient for that amount, (and he would have done the 
same had it been ten millions) and the chief justice was sat" 
isjied, and tte murderer discharged. ' 

The remainder of Judge Lecompte's lengthy letter, sent to 
Governor Geary for explanation, consists of little else than a 
wordy denial of the charge of having refused bail to free-state 
men, or been influenced in any way in the discharge of his 
judicial functions by party considerations ) all of .which he 
maintains with a pertinacity which might induce a reader not 
thoroughly acquainted with the man, and with his official his- 
tory, to imagine that the judge was really laboring under the 
hallucination, that he always had been, was then, and was re- 
solved ever after to be, a most righteous and impartial judge, 

The facts in the case of Hays were misrepresented by the 
Lecompton Unions and Governor Geary's conduct, as were all 
his acts, made the subject of an abusive article. To this 
George W. Brown, who was one of the treason prisoners, re- 
plied as follows, in the Herald of Freedom, of which paper 
he is the editor. Some of the undeniable facts, stated in this 
article, utterly disprove Judge Lecompte's pretensions to im- 
partiality in the discharge of his official duties : — 

^^The Union justifies Lecompte, because the defendant in- 
troduced ex parte evidence, and proved an alibi. The judge 
was offered proof, and in fact we did prove before him, that at 
the time we were charged with doing certain treasonable things 
in Kansas, and for more than one month previous, we had been 



180 ^ HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

out of tlie territory, and could not have been guilty of the 
crime with which we were charged. Moreover we offered to 
give bonds in the sum of S50,000 for our appearance at the 
next term of the court to answer the indictment ; and yet the 
judge declared the offence not bailable. Four months after he 
took bail, however, in the sum of §5,000, basing his action up- 
on the laches of the prosecution. 

^^In the indictment against the ninety-eight free-state pris- 
oners he refused bail, as they were indicted for murder. He 
well knew that there was not a jury, however malevolent, which 
could be so packed as to bring in a verdict of murder, because 
of the absence of malice prepense. At best it could only 
amount to manslaughter, and yet the judge refused them bail. 

'' In the case of Buffum, it was a cold-blooded^ deliberate 
murder. There were no extenuating circumstances. The 
wretches attempted to steal his horses ; Mr. Buffum remonstra- 
ted, and was shot down like a wild beast. A packed pro- 
slavery grand jury indicted Hays for murder. Lecompte re- 
leased him on bail. 

^^The governor was knowing to the murder of Buffum. He 
stood by his bed-side, and heard from the dying man, in ex- 
tremis, a statement of facts; and with Judge Cato, took his 
affidavit in due form of law. Hays was proven before the grand 
jury to be the man who inflicted the mortal blow. Five hun- 
dred dollars reward had been offered by the governor for his 
apprehension, and he was arrested — arrested for wilful and 
deliberate murder ; and Judge Lecompte, disregarding the feel- 
ings of an incensed public ; disregarding his own duty as a 
United States judge, sworn to discharge the duties of his off.ce 
with fidelity ; disregarding the sanctity of his judicial robes ; 
bound in honor as in law to know no party, and show no favor- 
itism — released that man, whose hands were dripping with 
innocent blood, to go at large, and repeat the same foul crime. 

" It was too much for our territorial executive to bear. He 
had seen the villany of that judge, and had passed him by. 
He had seen Judge Jeffreys' character re-enacted on the judi- 
cial bench in Kansas, and had winced at his numberless faults. 
But when such a high-handed and atrocious act as the one 
alluded to, came to his knowledge, it was too much for his 
equanimity to endure longer. Sworn to see that the laws were 
faithfully executed, and feeling the sacred n ess of his pledge 
to know no north, no south, no east, no west, but to discharge his 
duty honestly, as given in his inaugural, he resolved on dis- 



REQUISITIONS FOR TROOPS. 181 

cliarging tliat duty, and ordered Hays again into custody. 
Donalson, who summoned a posse of half a thousand men to 
aid in arresting three individuals where no resistance was 
threatened, refused to obey the reasonable request of the go- 
vernor. If Governor Geary possesses a particle of influence 
with the national administration, it is clearly his duty to see 
that these men are removed from office/' 



CHAPTER XXriII. 

The United States Marshal.-— His deputies.---Requisitions for United 
States soldiers. — Visit of the governor to Topeka, and arrest of prison- 
ers. — An address to the citizens of Topeka. — Report of the marshal. — 
Requisition declined, and an evil practice discontinued. 

Israel B. Donalson, then United States Marshal of Kansas 
Territory, is considerably advanced in years, and although 
decidedly in favor of the slave party, and one of its members, 
was not of the rabid sort, and had quite a sufficiency of the 
'' milk of human kindness'^ in his heart, to do justly if he 
could or dared. His surroundings, however, were every way 
unfavorable to a proper and just discharge of his duties. His 
deputies were all violent pro-slavery men, younger and more 
active than himself, and he became responsible for many of 
their illiberal acts. He being their authorized head, their 
persecutions of free-state people were chargeable to his account. 
The marshal himself seldom went on an expedition to execute 
a warrant, and his deputies, knowing that they had rendered 
themselves offensive by their abuses of their privileges and 
powers, feared to go beyond the shadow of Lecompton without 
being attended with a posse of United States troops. Hence, 
whenever a warrant was issued, the governor received from 
the marshal a requisition of which the following is a speci- 
men :— 

*' Lecompton, Kansa.s Territory, 

♦'September, 17th, 1858. 
*'To his Excellency, John W. Geaey, 

"Governor of Kansas Territory. 

"Sir: — Finding the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, and 
the powers vested in me as United States ^Marshal of the territory, 
inadequate to execute a warrant placed in my hands, from the Hon, 

16 



182 HISTORY OF KANSAS.. 

Samuel D. Lecompte, Chief Justice Supreme Court of Kansas Terri- 
tory, for the arrest of one Colonel Whipple and others, I respectfully 
request, that a posse of United States troops be furnished me to as- 
sist in making said arrests, and for the due execution of a number 
of other warrants, now in my hands. 

** Very respectfully, your obed't serv't, 

"I. B. DONALSON, 

*< U. S. Marshal, Kansas Territory." 

In compliance with these requests, which were usually 
accompanied with a verbal statement of the number of soldiers 
the marshal supposed he would require for the particular 
occasion stated, the governor was accustomed to make requisi- 
tion as follows upon the commanding officer nearest the place 
where the warrant was intended to be executed : — 

*' Executive Department, K. T. 

"Lecompton, September 17th, 1856. 
*• To Col. Philip St. George Cook, ^ 

"Commanding U. S. Dragoons, near Lecompton. 
"Sir: — 1 have just been shown sundry warrants from the chief 
justice for the arrest of a number of persons charged with the com- 
mission of crimes in this territory. The marshal has also duly certi- 
fied me, that the powers vested in him by the civil authority, is inade- 
quate to enable him to execute the aforesaid warrants, and he 
requires the aid of the United States troops to enable him to execute 
the same. You will, therefore, please furnish the marshal with two 
hundred dragoons, that being the number desired by him. I will 
accompany them, on this occasion, in person. 

"Your obed't serv't. 
"Jno. W. Geary, 
** Governor of Kansas Territory." 

Although, as will hereafter appear, General Smith subse- 
quently refused to furnish Grovernor Geary at his request, 
with two companies of troops, to preserve the peace of the 
territory from a threatened disturbance at Lecompton, it is 
but justice to the general to record that neither himself, nor 
any officer under his command, ever hesitated to answer the 
governor's requisitions for soldiers to accompany the marshal 
or his deputies in pursuit of alleged horse-thieves or other' 
criminals. 

In compliance with the above cited requisition. Col. Cook 
furnished two hundred mounted men, with which forqp, the 
governor, accompanied by the marshal, left Lecompton, for 
Topeka, at 2 o'clock on the afternoon of the 17th of September. 
Soon after their -departure a most violent storm of wind and 
rain arose^ which continued during the entire evening, render- 



GOVERNOR GEARY AT TOPEKA. 188 

ing travel almost impossible. With great difficulty, and after 
being thoroughly drenched, they reached Tecumseh, a distance 
of ten miles, and encamped for the night. Early on the 
following morning, they proceeded to Topeka, reaching that 
town about eight o'clock. Here the warrants were executed 
and twelve prisoners arrested. A large quantity of captured 
property, consisting of horses, buggies, wagons, &c., was iden- 
tified and recovered. With this and the prisoners, the troops 
were dispatched for Lecompton, the governor remaining alone 
at Topeka. 

The citizens here soon assembled together in town meeting. 
They were disposed to be refractory and some of them quite 
insolent. They were evidently under the influence of strong 
prejudices against the governor, and by no means disposed to 
favor his supposed policy or any of his movements. Some 
endeavored to annoy him with what they considered smart and 
perplexing questions ; others proposed entering into a treaty, 
the terms of which they were to establish; whilst still others 
averred that they had a governor of their own choice, to whom 
and to whom only, they owed and would yield allegiance. 

After listening patiently to all they had to say concerning 
their real or imagined grievances, and resolves in regard to 
their future conduct, the governor addressed them with great 
earnestness and at considerable length. 

He informed them that it was no lot nor part of his errand 
to Kansas to make treaties with, but to govern its people. 
He did not come to Topeka to discuss with its citizens the 
question of his right to the office he occupied, but to let them 
understand that he and he only was the Governor of Kansas, 
appointed by the president and confirmed as such by the 
Senate of the United States, and that they must and should 
yield obedience to all his reasonable requirements. He came 
to enforce the principles of the Constitution of the United 
States, the organic law of the territory, and all the territorial 
statutes not conflicting therewith — to maintain the doctrines 
of popular sovereignty — and to support the whole people, 
whatever were their political predilections, in the maintenance 
of their lawful privileges and rights. He had no partialities 
— all the citizens had equal claims to his guardian care — and 
to all classes he would do equal and exact justice. 

" Gentlemen, '^ said he, in one of his addresses, '^ I come 
not to treat with, but to govern you. There is now in the 
kmtory no other governor than myself. I will protect the 



184 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

lives and property of every peace-loving and law-abiding citizen, 
with all the power I possess. I will punish every law-breaker, 
whatever may be his position or pretensions. I will not for a 
moment tolerate any questioning of my authority. All who 
are in favor of restoring peace to this distracted territory can 
range themselves under my banner; all others I will treat as 
bandits and robbers, and as such extirpate them at the point 
of the bayonet. Don't talk to me about slavery or freedom — 
free-state men or pro-slavery men — u.ntil we have restored the 
benign influences of peace to the country; until we have 
punished the murderer, and driven out the bandit and rabble, 
and returned the industrious citizens to their homes and claims. 
Do not, I pray you, attempt to embarrass me with your political 
disputations. You shall all, without distinction of party, be 
alike protected. This is no time to talk about party, when 
men, women and children are hourly being murdered at their 
own firesides, or whilst sleeping in their beds, or are being 
driven by merciless bands of marauders from their homes 
without money, food, or clothing. In God's name rise for a 
moment above party, and contemplate yourselves as men and 
patriots. I am your friend — your fellow-citizen — moved by 
no other impulse than the welfare of the inhabitants of this 
territory, and the protection of their honor, their lives and 
property. When peace is fairly restored and secured, I will 
see that every man of you is protected in his political rights." 

He was listened to with profound attention, and most en- 
thusiastically cheered at the close of his remarks, when reso- 
lutions were passed approving his course, and promising a 
hearty support to his administration. On the same day he 
returned to Lecompton. 

So frequent became the marshal's applications for troops, 
and the governor never receiving any official report of the 
result of his requisitions^ he at length addressed Mr. Donalson 
as follows : — 

** Executive Department, K. T., 

*' Lecompton, Sept. 25, 1856. 
*' I. B. Donalson, Esq., 

*' United States Marshal, K. T. 
*'Sir: You have at sundry times made application to me for 
requisitions upon Col. Cook, for men to assist you in the execution 
of warrants upon persons charged with offences against the peace of 
this territory, viz ; 

" On the 17th inst., for two hundred dragoons to serve a writ upon 
one Col. Whipple and others ; 



THE marshal's REQUISITIONS. 185 

** On the same day, for five dragoons to arrest certain parties not 
named in your application ; 

"On the 20th inst., for ten dragoons to execute a warrant upon 
Thomas Kemp and others ; 

"On the 22d, for six dragoons to aid in securing sundry persons 
charged upon the complaint of James B. Lofton ; and 

"On the 23d, for ten dragoons to arrest Col. Whipple and many 
others. 

" As I have received no official information respecting the result 
of the above named requisitions, you vs'ill oblige me by reporting at 
once, in writing, whether they were complied with, and if so, whether 
the objects for which they were made have been accomplished, and 
all other information relative to the subject that you have the means 
to communicate. Yours, &c., 

" Jno. W. Geary, 
" Governor of Kansas Territory." 

The marslial replied at coDsiderable length, but as the fol- 
lowing contains the entire substance of his communication, it 
is all that need be cited : — 

'^ The objects for which the requisitions were made have 
been partially accomplished. On the requisition for two hun- 
dred dragoons, on the 17th instant, a large number implicated 
in the warrant have not yet been arrested, on account of the 
difficulty in finding their whereabouts. That for the five on 
the same day proved abortive. That of the 20th instant, for 
ten dragoons, was accomplished, or nearly so. That of the 
22d, for six dragoons, succeeded in arresting two of the of- 
fenders, one more of whom has since been arrested, and one 
still cannot be found. No resistance has been made to the 
execution of any of these writs ] nor is it probable that any 
will be made when the marshal is accompanied by a military 
posse/' 

The next day after writing the report from which the fore- 
going is extracted, the marshal asked for a posse to execute 
some half dozen or more warrants, to which the governor re- 
plied as follows : — 

** Executive Department, K. T., 

"Lecompton, Sept. 27, 1856. 
*'I B. DoNALSON, Esq., 

U. S. Marshal for the Territory of Kansas. 
** Sir: I have just received your requisition for a posse of twenty 
TJ. S. dragoons, to aid you in the execution of certain warrants in the 
neighborhood of Tecumseh and Topeka, 

*' In reply, I have to say that there are now one hundred and fifty 
U. S. mounted troops in the vicinity referred to, and my advices are 
16* 



186 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

that peace a^nd quiet reign there ; and I believe you will have no 
difficulty in the discharge of your duty. 

*'I must therefore decline acceding to your request until I am 
clearly satisfied that you cannot execute your warrants by virtue of 
,the civil authority already vested in you. 

**I am very averse to the employment of the military to execute 
civil process, and will only do so in cases of imperative necessity. 
*' Very truly, your obed't servt., 

" Jno. W. Geary, 
** Governor of Kansas Territory." 

This put an end to a practice tliat had become truly dis- 
gusting to all peaceful citizens. Deputy marshals who in 
some instances had rendered themselves obnoxious by their 
habits of partisan oppression, were, at the head of United 
States troops, constantly scouring the country, entering free- 
state towns, and under the shadow of authority and the cover 
of protection from tha soldiers, committing offences against 
decency and the quiet of the community more reprehensible 
than those even alleged against the parties of whom, in many 
instances, they were in search ; and they were becoming al- 
most as great a terror to unoffending people as the hordes of 
banditti which had previously infested the highways. The 
refusal of the governor, therefore, to continue to furnish the 
means for these officials to pursue such practices was followed 
with the most beneficial results. The free-state people were 
no longer harassed with processes issued simply for their an- 
noyance, and were enabled to pursue their lawful avocations 
with confidence and in peace ; and the order and quiet which 
previous bold and decisive measures had effected were thus in 
a great measure preserved. 

Lieutenant Lewis Merrill, who on one occasion had been 
detailed with a company of dragoons to accompany a deputy 
marshal on one of these expeditions to execute writs, in con- 
cluding a lengthy report of the service, remarks : — 

^^ Not the slightest -evidence was shown any where that 
there would have been any resistance to the civil officer -under 
any circumstances ; and I think that if he had been an effi- 
cient, energetic man, who had not by his former conduct made 
himself obnoxious to these people, the arrests would have been 
made of all the warrants called for, and without any show of 
resistance.'' 



FREE-STATE IMMIGRANTS. 187 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Arrival of free-state immigrants, and their treatment and discharge. 

During the last week of September information was re- 
ceived at the executive office from various sources supposed to 
be reliable, that Colonel Lane, with a force of at least a thousand 
men, and several pieces of artillery, was about to invade the 
territory with hostile intentions, by way of Nebraska; and 
hence a detachment of United States troops, accompanied by 
Deputy Marshal Preston, was sent to watch and guard the 
northern frontier, with orders to arrest any illegally armed 
body that might be found within the limits of Kansas. The 
troops had scarcely reached their destination when Captain 
James Redpath entered the territory with one hundred and 
thirty men, who were armed, equipped, and organized, as was 
supposed, in violation of the governor's proclamation. They 
were consequently arrested and escorted to the vicinity of Le- 
compton, when the governor, in an interview with Redpath, 
beiog assured that the prisoners were a company of peaceable 
immigrants, they were at once permitted to go their way with- 
out further molestation. 

Immediately after this, reports, apparently well authenti- 
cated, reached both Governor Geary and General Smith that 
Redpath 's party was but an advance guard of the forces of 
Lane, who had contracted with the ferry-men at Nebraska 
City for the transit of about seven hundred men, all well 
armed, and having three pieces of cannon ; and Colonels Cook 
and Johnson were forthwith dispatched, with three hundred 
dragoons, to intercept their passage through the territory. 

On the 1st of October a deputation consisting of Major 
Morrow, Col. Winchel, Wm. Hutchinson, and Col. J. Jenkins, 
called upon the governor, stating that they had been sent by 
General Pomeroy and Colonels Eldridge and Perry, who were 
escorting three hundred emigrants into the territory by way of 
Nebraska ; that they did not come for warlike purposes nor 
as disturbers of the public peace, but as bona fide settlers, with 
agricultural implements, and some guns to protect themselves 
and shoot game; but that in the present disturbed state of 
afiairs they did not wish to enter the territory under any cir- 
cumstances of suspicion without first notifying the governor. 



188 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

Upon being asked if the party in question were in anywise 
connected with Lane's so-called ^^army of the north/' a decided 
negative reply was given. 

The governor then informed his visitors that he was deter- 
mined that no armed bodies of men with cannon and munitions 
of war, and with hostile attitude, should enter the territory to 
the terror of peaceful citizens ; that there was no further oc- 
casion for such demonstrations, and they would not be permitted. 
On the other hand, he added, he would welcome with his 
whole heart all immigrants who should come for peaceful and 
lawful purposes ; that to all such the highways should not only 
be opened, but he would furnish them a safe escort and gua- 
rantee them his protection. He then gave the deputation a 
letter directing all military commanders to give to Colonel El- 
dridge's party a safe escort should they be, as represented, a 
party of immigrants coming into the territory to prosecute 
peaceful and lawful occupations. 

On the 12th of the same month Deputy Marshal Preston 
reached Lecompton^ bearing the following dispatch from Col. 
Cook :— 

*^Head Quarters, Camp near Nebraska River, 

"K. T., Oct. 10, 1856. • 
^*His Excellency, J. W. Geary, 

'* Governor of Kansas Territory. 
Sir : Col. Preston, Deputy Marshal, has arrested, with my assistance, 
and disarmed, a large body of professed immigrants, being entirely 
provided with arms and munitions of war ; amongst which two oflBcer's 
and sixty-one privates' sabres, and many boxes of new saddles. 
Agreeably to your requisition of September 26, I send an escort to 
conduct them, men, arms, and munitions of war, to appear before 
you at the capital. Col. Preston will give you the details. 

I have the honor to be, with high respect, your obed't servant, 

*'P. St. George Cook, 
*< Lieut. Col. 2d Dragoons, Comm'g in the Field." 

The reports of Colonels Preston, Cooke, Major Sibley, and 
others, in respect to the arrest of this party, are too lengthy, 
and at this date, of too little importance, to copy. The sub- 
stance of them, however, is given in the following extracts of 
a letter from Governor Geary to Secretary Marcy, under date 
of October. 15th. He says : — 

^' Col. Wm. S. Preston, a Deputy U. S. Marshal, who had 

accompanied Col. P. St. G. Cook and his command to the 

northern frontier to look after a large party of professed immi- 

. grants^ who were reported to be about invading the territory 



ARREST OF IMMIGRANTS. 189 

in that quarter in warlike array and for hostile purposes, 
returned to Lecompton on the 12th instant. 

^^ He informed me that he had caused to be arrested, an or- 
ganized band, consisting of about two hundred and forty per- 
sons, among whom were a very few women and children, com- 
prising some seven families. 

^^ This party was regularly formed in military order, and 
were under the command of General Pomeroy, Colonels El- 
dridge and Perry, and others. They had with them twenty 
wagons, in which was a supply of new arms, mostly muskets 
and sabres, and a lot of saddles, &c., sufficient to equip a bat- 
talion, consisting one-fourth of cavalry and the remainder of 
infantry. Besides these arms, the immigrants were provided 
with shot-guns, rifles, pistols, knives, &c., sufficient for the 
ordinary uses of persons travelling in Kansas, or any other of 
the western territories. From the reports of the officers, I 
learn they had with them neither oxen, household furniture, 
mechanics' tools, agricultural implements, nor any of the 
necessary appurtenances of peaceful settlers. 

^^ These persons entered the territory on the morning of the 
10th iustant, and met Col. Cook's command a few miles south 
of the territorial line. Here the deputy-marshal questioned 
them as to their intentions, the contents of their wagons, and 
such other matters as he considered necessary in the exercise 
of his official duties. Not satisfied with their answers, and 
being refused the privilege of searching their effects, he felt 
justified in considering them a party organized and armed in 
opposition to my proclamation of the 11th September. After 
consultation with Col. Cook and other officers of the army, 
who agreed with him in regard to the character of the immi- 
grants, he directed a search to be made, which resulted in 
the discovery of the arms already mentioned. 

^^ An escort was offered them to Lecompton, in order that I 
might examine them in person, and decide as to their inten- 
tions, which they refused to accept. Their superfluous arms 
were then taken in charge of the troops, and the entire party 
put under arrest — the families, and all others, individually, 
being permitted to retire from the organization, if so disposed. 
Few availed themselves of this privilege. 

^^ But little delay, and less annoyance, was occasioned them 
by these proceedings. Every thing that circumstances re- 
quired or permitted was done for the comfort and convenience 
of the prisoners. Their journey was facilitated rather than 



190 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

retarded. They were accompanied by a squadron of United 
States dragoons, in command of Major H. H. Sibley. A day's 
rations were dealt out to them, and they were allowed to pur- 
sue the route themselves had chosen. 

'^ Being apprised of the time at which they would probably 
arrive at Topeka, I forwarded orders for their detention on the 
northern side of the river, near that place, where, as I prom- 
ised, I met them on the morning of the 14th inst. 

^' I addressed these people in their encampment, in regard 
to the present condition of the territory, the suspicious posi- 
tion they occupied, and the reprehensible attitude they had 
assumed. I reminded them that there was no possible neces- 
sity or excuse for the existence of large armed organizations 
at present in the territory. Everything was quiet and peace- 
ful. And the very appearance of such an unauthorized and 
injudicious array as they presented, while it could do no good, 
was calculated, if not intended, to spread anew distrust and 
consternation through the territory, and rekindle the fires of 
discord and strife that had swept over the land, ravaging and 
desolating everything that lay in their destructive path. 

'' Their apology for an evident disregard of my proclama- 
tion, was, that they had mad« arrangements to emigrate to 
Kansas when the territory was not only disturbed by antago- 
nistic political parties, armed for each other's destruction, but 
when numerous bands of marauders, whose business was plun- 
der and assassination, infested all the highways, rendering 
travel extremely hazardous, even though every possible means 
for self-protection were employed. 

^' After showing the necessity of so doing, I insisted upon 
the immediate disbandment of this combination, which was 
agreed to with great alacrity. The majority of the men were 
evidently gratified to learn that they had . been deceived in 
relation to Kansas affairs, and that peace and quiet, instead 
of strife and contention, were reigning here. My remarks 
were received with frequent demonstrations of approbation, 
and at their close the organization was broken up, its members 
dispersing in various directions. After they had been dis- 
missed from custody, and the fact was announced to them by 
Major Sibley, their thankfulness for his kind treatment to 
them while under arrest, was acknowledged by giving him 
three hearty and enthusiastic cheers.'^ 

Soon after the letter, from which the foregoing is extracted, 
was forwarded to Washington, the following statement from 



TREATMENT OF THE IMMIGRANTS. 191 

the leaders of tlie party in question, was received by Governor 
G eary : — 

** Topeka, Kansas Territory, 

'* October 14, 1856. 
•'His Excellency, John W. Geary, 

" Governor of Kansas Territory. 
" Dear Sir : We, the undersigned, conductors of an emigrant train, 
"who entered the territory on the 10th instant, beg leave to make the 
following statement of facts, which, if required, we will attest upon 
our oaths. 

*' 1st. Our party numbered from two hundred to three hundred 
persons, in two separate companies; the rear company, which kas 
not yet arrived, being principally composed of families, with children, 
who left Mount Pleasant, Iowa, three days after this train which has 
arrived to-day. 

"2d. We are all actual, bona fide settlers, intending, so far as we 
know, to become permanent inhabitants. 

" 3d. The blockading of the Missouri River to fre'e-state emigrants, 
and the reports which reached us in the early part of September, to 
the effect that armed men were infesting and marauding the northern 
portions of Kansas, were the sole reasons why we came in a company 
and were armed. 

'* 4th. We were stopped near the northern line of the territory by 
the United States troops, acting, as we understood, under the orders 
of one Preston, deputy United States marshal, and after stating to the 
officers who we were and what we had, they commenced searching 
our wagons (in some instances breaking open trunks, and throwing 
bedding and wearing apparel upon the ground in the rain), taking 
arms from the wagons, wresting some private arms from the hands 
of men, carrying away a lot of sabres belonging to a gentleman in the 
territory, as also one and a half kegs of powder, percussion caps, and 
some cartridges ; in consequence of which we were detained about 
two-thirds of a day, taken prisoners, and are now presented to you. 

" All we have to say is that our mission to this territory is entirely 
peaceful. We have no organization, save a police organization for 
our own regulation and defence on the way. And coming in that 
spirit to this territory, we claim the rights of American citizens to 
bear arms, and to be exempt from unlawful search and seizure. 

"Trusting to your integrity and impartiality, we have confidence 
to believe that our property will be restored to us, and that all that 
has been wrong will be righted. 

** We here subscribe ourselves, cordially and truly, your friends 
and fellow-citizens. 

<* S. W. Eldridge, Conductor. 
"Samuel 0. PoMEROY. 
"John A. Perry. 
" Robert Morrow. 
"Edward Daniels. 
" Richard Raelf." 



192 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

Peace and quiet prevailing. — Visit to Lawrence. — Proclamation of the 
Mayor of Leavenworth. — Suspension of the liquor trafiSc in Lecompton. — 
Organization of militia. — Escort for wagons furnished. — Another elec- 
tion. 

go great was the cliange wrouglit in tlie affairs of the terri- 
tory, that just three weeks from the day of his arrival, the go- 
vernor was justified in forwarding the following dispatch to 
the secretary of state : — 

** Executive Department, K. T., 
*' Lecompton, Sept. 30, 1856. 
*' Hon. Wm. L. Marct, 

"Washington, D. C, 
** Peace now reigns in Kansas. Confidence is gradually being 
restored. Settlers are returning to their claims. Citizens are resum- 
ing their ordinary pursuits, and a general gladness pervades the 
community. 

*'When I arrived here, everything was at the lowest point of 
depression. Opposing parties saw no hope of peace, save in mutual 
extermination, and were employing effectual means to produce that 
terrible result. 

*' I will shortly issue a proclamation announcing the fact that 
tranquillity prevails, and inviting the return of all citizens who have 
been ejected from the territory either by force or fraud. 
*' Your obed't servt., 

*' Jno. W. Geary, 
" Governor of Kansas Territory.'* 

On the morning of October 2d, the governor, accompanied 
by his private secretary and a single dragoon, made a visit to 
Lawrence on official business. The change in the aspect of 
the country appeared almost magical. Two weeks previous 
the journey could not have been safely made without a strong 
force of United States troops. The improvement manifest 
along the road was truly wonderful. No prowling bands of 
marauders were seen watching for prey upon the distant hills, 
or flying for safety into the deep ravines ; nor travellers, fear- 
ing all who approached them to be enemies, dashing from the 
main roads over the extensive prairies. On the contrary, 
everything indicated peace, confidence and returning prospe- 
rity. Females rode alone on horseback, from house to house^ 



PEACE RESTORED. 193 

and wagons, unattended by guards, and loaded vnth provisions, 
household goods, men, women and children, traversed the 
roads without the slightest danger or^cause for apprehension. 
Workingmen were employed in rebuilding their burned houses, 
and taking in and securing their ripened crops. Upon reach- 
ing Lawrence, the happy influence of restored peace was still 
more conspicuous. No guards surrounded the town, nor were 
there visible any mounted spies to watch its avenues of ap- 
proach. Squads of idlers no longer hung about the streets. 
The stores were opened, and business had been actively 
resumed. Gloom had forsaken the countenances of the people, 
and cheerfulness pervaded the community. The governor was 
received with the utmost cordiality, and his visit, which con- 
tinued during the day, was rendered especially agreeable. A 
company of militia, then being enrolled, was nearly full, and 
a general determination seemed to have been formed to culti- 
vate a spirit of industry, peace and good order. 

On his return route to Lecompton, the governor stopped at 
the houses of several of the settlers, and in every instance 
found the families entirely freed from all apprehensions of 
further disturbance, and in the enjoyment of the fullest con- 
tentment. 

Notwithstanding the general peace, there still existed in 
various localities, many personal diJfficulties, growing out of the 
past disturbances. Letters from numerous citizens and depu- 
tations appointed for the purpose, poured into the executive 
office, complaining of real and imagined grievances, and ap- 
pealing for redress. With a determination to bring about a 
proper system of civilized government, these complaints were 
referred back by the governor to the municipal authorities of 
the neighborhoods whence they emanated, with instructions 
that justice should be done, as far as possible, to all citizens 
wrongfully oppressed, and that the laws should be enforced; 
at the same time, he declined to interpose his own authority 
until the powers vested in the heads of the various munici- 
palities had been employed and exhausted without the desired 
effect. This policy infused a new life into some of the corpo- 
rations, and aroused the prostrated officials to prompt and 
healthy action. They were encouraged by the assurance of 
strong and efficient support to enforce and maintain the laws, 
which had been despised and trampled under foot, and a 
disposition was growing on every hand to uphold and execute 
them in all their power and majesty. This new condition of 
17 N 



194 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

things infused a refreshing and invigorating influence through 
all the ramifications of society, and gave the promise of future 
and permanent prosperity to the territory. 

The Mayor of Leavenworth City, to whom the governor had 
addressed a communication respecting certain evils complained 
of under his jurisdiction, promptly issued a proclamation, of 
which the following is an extract: — 

^^ Whereas, It is the bounden duty of every citizen, and 
particularly of every executive officer, to comply strictly with 
the requirements of the late proclamation of Grovernor Geary : 

^^ Now, therefore, I, William E. Murphy, mayor of the city 
aforesaid, by virtue of the power and authority in me vested, 
do make known and proclaim, that I will rigidly enforce the 
law against each and every violator thereof; and I hereby call 
upon all good and law-abiding citizens of this city, to frown 
down any secret conspiracy against law, and to give me, as 
their chief executive officer, that aid necessary to maintain 
the supremacy of the law.^^ 

The Mayor of Lecompton, also, having received a commu- 
nication in regard to the numerous tippling houses existing in 
the city, setting forth the fact that the United States troops 
in the vicinity were almost unfitted for duty, in consequence 
of the facilities with which they obtained the means of intoxi- 
cation, issued a proclajnation, demanding, for a certain speci- 
fied time, the entire suspension of the sale of intoxicating 
drinks. This proclamation being unheeded, and the evil, so 
far as the troops were concerned, becoming more serious, the 
governor sent a file of soldiers to close all the groggeries that 
were not properly licensed, and to destroy the liquor of those 
who persisted in selling contrary to law, and to the detriment 
of the public peace. 

About this time numerous individuals, desiring to be prom- 
inent, addressed the governor, requesting him to allow them to 
organize militia or volunteer military companies, in order to 
protect the neighborhoods in which they resided. Knowing 
that the objects of these requests, were in the majority of in- 
stances to obtain legal authority to commit depredations on 
opposing political parties, the governor invariably refused to 
grant them. He organized, however, three companies of mili- 
tia, whom he caused to be regularly mustered into the service 
of the United States. Two of these were stationed for pro- 
tective purposes at Lecompton, and the other at Lawrence. 
They remained in the service until the month of December, 



A JOURNEY OF OBSERVATION. 195 

wheiij it appearing that they were no longer needful, thej 
were dismissed. 

In order that perfect confidence might be had by store-keep- 
ers and others desirous of transporting goods and provisions 
into the territory, the governor made requisitions for United 
States troops to accompany wagons to and from Westport, Kan- 
sas City, and other towns on the Missouri River, all of which 
tended to increase the feeling of security that had sprung up, 
and to advance the welfare and prosperity of the people. 

By proclamation of the governor, an election for members 
of the House of Representatives of the territory, and a dele- 
gate to Congress, was held on the 6th of October. The free- 
state people declined taking any part in the election, and in 
consequence but Si small vote was polled. Whitfield, who was 
choseii'' delegate to Congress, came into the territory from 
Westport, at the head of a party of such notoriously bad re- 
pute, that he declared himself ashamed to be seen in their 
company. They came up to Lecompton, voted for Whitfield, 
and returned to Missouri. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

NOTES OF A JOURNEY OF OBSERVATION. 

October 17th. — Governor Geary left Lecompton early this 
morning on a tour of observation through the southern and 
western portions of the territory, escorted by a squadron of 
United States dragoons under command of Brevet-Major H. 
H. Sibley. After visiting a number of families on the way, 
and transacting considerable official business, he reached Law- 
rence in the afternoon, where he encamped for the night. He 
inspected Captain Walker's newly raised company of territorial 
troops, and was agreeably entertained by the citizens, who were 
in good spirits, and generally well contented at the better pros- 
pect that had been opened by the suppression of the late dis- 
turbances. 

ISth. — The escort proceeded through the Wakarusa Valley, 
to Hickory Point, via Blan ton's Bridge, a place made celebra- 
ted by its fortifications and rifie-pits, constructed during the 
war by the free-state men. The governor, with his secretary 



196 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

and an orderly, went round by Franklin, where he had dis- 
banded, but a few weeks before, the army of General Reid, and 
where he had been informed a bad state of feeling still existed. 
Here the people were assembled and addressed with happy 
effect by the governor, who was cheered at the close of his re- 
marks. Some of the houses in the town were riddled with 
balls,"' especially that of the postmaster, Crane. Leaving 
Franklin, the governor called upon the settlers on the way, 
instructing and encouraging them to keep the peace ; visited 
all the points of peculiar interest ; and joined the troops at 
Hickory Point early in the evening. Here he encamped for 
the night, and was visited by a large number of intelligent 
and respectable citizens, who expressed themselves highly grati- 
fied with the policy he had pursued, and their determination 
to support and assist him in his just and impartial adii^iliistra- 
tioD. 

19th. — Whilst in camp at this place, information was re- 
ceived that recent depredations had been committed in this 
vicinity, and, upon complaint being duly made, the governor 
dispatched a deputy marshal with a posse of dragoons, who 
arrested the offenders and sent them as prisoners to Lecompton. 
On the march towards Prairie City, where they halted for 
some time, the governor's horse planted his foot upon and 
crushed the head of a large rattlesnake that lay coiled in the 
road. May not this have been a happy omen ? Passing Prairie 
City, reached the house of John J. Jones, extensively known 
in Kansas by the name of ^^ Ottawa Jones/^ He resides on 
Ottawa Creek, and is a half-breed Ottawa Indian, educated and 
civilized, and the interpreter of his tribe. His wife is an in- 
telligent white woman from the state of Maine, who came to 
the territory some years since, as a missionary, and to whom he 
was married in 1845. They have no children. Jones for- 
merly kept a hotel of considerable dimensions and excellent 
accommodations, which was burned on the night of the 27th 
of August last, by a Captain Hays, with a company of about 
forty men, because of his alleged free-state proclivities. Jones 
escaped unharmed, though he was pursued and fired at a num- 
ber of times by Hays' party. Six hundred dollars in cash was 
taken from his wife whilst making her escape. Jones estimates 
his loss at $10,000, but the chiefs value it at S6000. He has 
three hundred acres of land under good fence, raises four thou- 
sand bushels of grain a year, has one hundred head of cattle, 
and fourteen horses. He was educated at Hamilton College, 



THE TOWN OP PAOLI. 197 

New York, and now preaches every Sunday, at tlie Baptist 
Mission. The farm of Jones is a part of the Ottawa reserve, 
which is ten by twelve miles square. The tribe consists of 
825 souls. Ottawa Creek, which empties into the Osage River, 
runs through this reserve, in which, notwithstanding the late- 
ness of the season, the governor and others of his party took 
a comfortable and refreshing bath. 

Four miles from the house of Ottawa Jones, stands the 
Bajftist Mission, consisting of a church and several small 
houses. The mission, in which sixty Indian children are being 
educated, is under the care of John Early, a full-blooded In- 
dian, who was educated at the Methodist Mission, and talks 
good English. 

Having passed this mission, crossed the Marais des Cygnes, 
sometimes called Osage River, and proceeding seven miles 
further, encamped in the valley of North Middle Creek. 

20//?. — Struck tents, and marched through a beautiful coun- 
try to Osawattomie, situated about one mile above the conflu- 
ence of the Marais des Cygnes and Potawattomie rivers, upon 
an extensive plain of unsurpassed fertility. It formerly con- 
tained about two hundred inhabitants, many of whom were 
driven away at the time of the difficulties described in another 
place. Near this town the governor found one family, con- 
sisting of a man, his wife, and five children, all sick in bed, 
whilst their oldest son, who was their only support, had been 
forced to fly from the territory in consequence of threats against 
his life made by certain pro-slavery agitators. 

The people of Osawattomie were laboring under the appre- 
hension of some undefined danger, and they welcomed the go- 
vernor's arrival as the guarantee of security. He called the 
citizens together, irrespective of party; heard their individual 
complaints ; gave them salutary advice ; urged them, as far as 
possible, to bury the past, and cultivate kind relations for the 
future ] to all of which they promised a cheerful compliance. 

Leaving Osawattomie, crossed the Marais des Cygnes. 
This river empties into the Missouri about ten miles below 
Jefi'erson City, after receiving in its course the Potawattomie, 
Bull's Creek, Sugar Creek, and other respectable streams. 
After a brisk ride of about nine miles, over a rich and beau- 
tiful country, occasionally enlivened by the flight of im- 
mense numbers of prairie fowl. Bull's Creek was crossed, and 
an encampment formed at the town of Paoli, the government 
seat of Douglas County. The town consists of thirteen houses 
17* 



198 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

and a good hotel, recently built, and is located upon land be- 
longing to an intelligent Indian of the Peoria tribe, named 
Baptiste. He resides at this place, and is interpreter for the 
Peorias, Kaskaskias, Peankeshaws and Weaws^ recently united 
under treaty by name of the Weaws. These tribes number 
about three hundred souls, fifty of whom reside at Paoli. The 
land is apportioned among them by treaty, according to the 
number of each family, Baptiste having received two entire 
sections for special services. The Baptist Mission school, un- 
der the charge of Dr. Lykens, assisted by three whit^ teachers, 
is about a mile and a half from Paoli. The school is for the 
education of Indian children, about thirty of whom are in daily 
attendance. General Maxwell McCaslin, formerly of Penn- 
sylvania, is the agent for these tribes, and is very generally 
respected. Their lands possess great beauty, and are very 
fertile, and sufficiently well timbered. 

Henry Sherman, or Dutch Henry, as he was called, lived in 
this vicinity on the Potawattomie. He was a pro-slavery man, 
and disposed to be quarrelsome. A short time previous to the 
governor's visit, Henry was staying at the house of a Mrs. 
Totten, with the body of his brother who had just died, when 
he was called upon by three men, with blackened faces, and 
ordered to quit the country instantly. Upon soliciting time 
to bury his brother, he was given until the following night. 
They took away his horse and ordered him not to remove any 
of his cattle. Henry was waylaid and killed in March, 1857, 
by a party of men, simply for his money, of which he had 
collected a considerable amount. 

21st. — Previous to leaving Paoli, the governor delivered a 
speech at a public meeting, embracing a large number of 
citizens and neighbors, so effectually as to elicit repeated 
evidences of approbation, and upon concluding was greeted 
with enthusiastic cheers, and general and hearty pledges of 
co-operation and support. He then commissioned a justice of 
the peace and several other officers, thus affording the citizens 
the immediate means of settling their own disputes and diffi- 
culties. 

- Leaving Paoli, returned via Osawattomie, and crossing the 
Potawattomie, proceeded up the valley of that creek about 
eight miles, to the scene of many past disturbances and of the 
Potawattomie murders. The route along the Potawattomie 
was through a fertile region well timbered. The woods 
abounded with wild turkeys, the creek with geese and ducks, 



ROBBERY ON SUGAR CREEK. 199 

and the prairies with grouse. The scenery was remarkably 
beautiful and picturesque. 

22.d. — Travelled all day through a drenching rain. Crossed 
South Middle Greek, and Big Sugar Creek, and encamped at 
night on the south side of the last-named stream, near the 
house of Mr. Means. 

23t/. — Early this morning the neighbors having assembled, 
they listened with evijj^pnt satisfaction to a spirited address 
from Governor Geary. Travelled over a delightful country, 
ten miles to Sugar Mound. Deputations of citizens joined 
the party at various points on the road, and accompanied it to 
the place named. Here, in anticipation of the governor's 
coming, a large number of persons had already assembled. After 
addressing these, and receiving universal assurances of their 
approbation and concurrence, he proceeded on his journey, 
and encamped late in the evening on Little Sugar Creek, three 
miles south of Sugar Mound. Here, as elsewhere, the whole 
neighborhood thronged to see, hear, and converse with the 
governor — to state their grievances and their wishes, and re= 
ceive instruction and encouragement. These interchanges of 
views and feelings between the executive and the people were 
evidently working a most beneficial effect. The settlers seemed 
universally satisfied that impartial justice would be done 
them, so far as the governor possessed any power. 

This region of country, which is pretty generally settled by 
free-state men, is equal in value to any in the territory. About 
Sugar Mound the land is high and open, and unsurpassed in 
regard to its fertility. Little Sugar Creek winds round the 
Mound in a sort of semicircle. There is an abundance of fine 
timber, consisting principally of oak, hickory, walnut, sugar- 
maple, &c., and the sides of the hills reveal large quarries of 
most excellent building stone. Beyond this, a rich undulating 
prjiirie stretches out as far as the eye can reach. The settlers 
in this section are prosperous and contented. . They value 
their claims, (one hundred and sixty acres,) upon which the 
improvements are of little account, from eight to twelve hundred 
dollars. Maple sugar is manufactured to a considerable extent, 
and sells readily at twenty cents per pound. Mr. Temple 
Wayne, during the past year, produced six hundred pounds, 
which he sold at that price. The soil is capable of yielding 
as much and as good hemp, corn, rje, wheat, or any of the 
agricultural products, as any in the United States. 

24^A. — The tents were struck at an early hour and the 



200 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

company about to move, when two messengers hastily arrived, 
announcing that a robbery and murder* had been committed 
the night previous in the rear on Sugar Creek, and that the 
perpetrators, numbering seven or eight men, were still in the 
neighborhood threatening other outrages. A countermarch 
was instantly ordered, and at a brisk trot, the ten intervening 
miles were soon traversed. The scene of the outrage, which 
was less serious than had been represented, was the house of 
Judge Briscoe Davis, who was absent m Missouri. His sister, 
a Mrs. Cornet, and five daughters, four of them grown, were 
left in possession. Captain John E. Brown, Mrs. Brown, and 
her daughter, were on a visit to Mrs. Cornet. The robbers 
entered the house, and seizing Captain Brown and two of the 
young ladies, confined them in one room, under charge of a 
couple of sentinels. The remainder of the family were im- 
prisoned together in another apartment. The house was then 
searched, and robbed of every article of value, consisting 
chiefly of one hundred and five dollars in gold, a watch, 
jewelry, revolver, &c. In the morning, the ruffians compelled 
the ladies to prepare them a breakfast, and then rode away, 
taking with them a valuable horse. Captain Brown made his 
escape during the night, and was the means of conveying 
information to the governor, who dispatched scouts in every 
direction in pursuit of the robbers, issuing, at the same time, 
a proclamation, ofi'ering a reward of two hundred dollars for 
their apprehension. Several of them were subsequently cap- 
tured. 

Sunday, 2bih, — A very rainy and disagreeable day. Pro- 
ceeded up the Potawattomie valley, recrossed the Marais des 
Cygnes, passed the Baptist Mission, traversed the California 
road, and reached Eight Mile Creek at Centropolis, where 
finding plenty of wood and water, an encampment was made. 
The day was occupied by the governor in conversing at various 
points with the citizens. The community was quiet, no dis- 
turbance having occurred for more than four weeks. 

26^A. — Travelled rapidly twenty-seven miles over a monoto^ 
nous rolling prairie, upon which there was not a tree or shrub 
to break the extensive prospect. The march, however, was 
enlightened, as on other occasions, by a spirited hunt. A 
prairie wolf was started up, when a cry was raised, the hounds 
were quickly in pursuit, and a half-dozen horsemen followed. 
Away they went, now in the hollow, now dashing across the 
hills. The wolf was a fine fellow, and made good time, but 



PORT RILEY. 201 

the dogs were too mucli for Mm, and soon had him down, and 
the horsemen were just in time to be in at the death. These 
wolves are very numerous in Kansas. They are not ferocious, 
and are never known to attack anything but the poultry. 
Even the sheep appear to be unmolested by them. They 
prowl about the houses of the settlers at night, not hesitating 
to come to the very doors in search of food. After sunset, 
their barking, which resembles that of a small dog, may con- 
stantly be heard. Reaching One Hundred and Ten, a cele- 
brated stopping place on the California road, for emigrants to 
the far west, a number of citizens called upon and had a plea- 
sant interview with the governor. Then proceeded in a north- 
westerly direction on the Fort Riley road, and going twelve 
miles further, encamped on the head waters of the Wakarusa. 

21th. — Travelled briskly all day, and encamped at night on 
the head waters of the Neosha. The road is over an unin- 
habited and rather an inferior prairie country, along a divide 
between the Neosha and Wakarusa, the banks of both streams 
being skirted with good timber. Had several wolf- chases on 
the route. Flocks of brant were seen, and myriads of wild 
geese on the wing to more southern latitudes. 

2'^th. — Proceeded briskly along the same divide, the country 
being barren and desolate, and covered with immense quarries 
of white limestone. The only settlements are a few families 
at the crossing of Clark^s Greek. Crossed the Kansas River 
at Riley City to Pawnee City. This was accomplished with 
much difficulty and even danger in consequence of a freshet 
from Smoky Hill Fork. Pawnee City, which was Reeder's 
abortive seat of government, contains two houses, whilst Riley 
City can boast of eight. Upon the governor's arrival in the 
evening at Fort Riley, a salute of fifteen guns was fired, the 
band discoursed most eloquent music, and other honors of the 
most marked and gratifying character were rendered. 

29fA, oQthj 31s^ — Remained at Fort Riley to recruit the 
horses, equip the troops, and prepare them for a winter cam- 
paign. The governor, during this time, visited all the places 
of interest in and about the fort, saw nt^rly all the families in 
the neighborhood, and received conclusive assurances of uni- 
versal satisfaction with his administration. On the 29th, he 
reviewed the troops at the fort, and in the evening attended a 
ball, at which all the officers, their ladies, and the prominent 
people of the neighborhood, were present. This was a brilliant 
aJBfair, and although gotten up in a region almost beyond the 



202 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

bounds of civilization, would have done credit, for the education, 
intelligence, refinement, and it may be added, delicacy and 
beauty of its female participants, to any community in the 
world. Numerous other entertainments were given, and the 
stay at the fort was made as comfortable and happy as could 
have been desired. 

Fort Riley was constructed but lately, (in 1853), at an ex- 
pense of over five hundred thousand dollars to the govern- 
ment. It is not located in so beautiful a country as Fort Lea- 
venworth, but its buildings are even more spacious, imposing, 
and comfortable. It is in latitude 39° 03' 38'' N., longitude 
96° 24' 56" W., at an elevation of nine hundred and twenty- 
six feet above the Gulf of Mexico, and at the mouth of the 
Republican Fork on the Kansas River, one hundred and ten 
miles from its junction with the Missouri. 

November \st. — Left Fort Riley en route for Lecompton. 
Crossed the river with great difiiculty at Pawnee, and en- 
camped at Riley City, where the governor was visited, as usual, 
by numerous citizens. 

Simdai/j 2d. — Weather cold and rainy. Passing down the 
Kansas, crossed Clark's Creek, about four miles from Riley, 
then over some high barren hills, into a valley of surprising 
richness and fertility, in which there are large quantities of 
fine timber. This valley is admirably adapted for the con- 
struction of a railroad, as no grading would be required for many 
miles } while stone, as well as timber, exists in great abun- 
dance. Wild turkeys were plenty, and in consequence, per- 
haps, of the rain and cold, were so dull and stupid as to be 
shot with pistols. Encamped on the south side of the Kan- 
sas, opposite Manhattan. A congregation had assembled at 
that place to hear preaching by the Rev. Charles E. Blood, 
who learning of the approach of the governor, adjourned the 
meeting, and with other gentlemen, crossed the river in a 
small boat to invite him over to Manhattan to address the 
citizens in his stead. The reverend gentleman said that the 
obligations of religion could not be properly discharged unless 
peace and order were preserved, and he assured^ his excellency 
that a few words of advice and encouragement from him at 
that particular period would be of more service than any ser- 
mon he could utter. The governor complied with this re- 
quest, and spoke for a long while to the people with much 
feeling and power; and the meeting, doubtless, resulted in 
doing great good. Manhattan is situated at the junction of 



RETURN TO LECOMPTON. 203 

the Big Blue witli the Kansas river. The military road from 
Fort Leavenworth to Fort Riley and Laramie passes through 
this place. The Big Blue is a clear stream, differing in 
that respect very materially from the Kansas, and is one 
hundred and fifty yards wide and fifteen deep. Buffalo-fish 
and cat-fish, with other varieties, are found here. Deer, prairie- 
chickens, wild turkeys, &c., abound in the surrounding coun- 
try. The town is located in a valley of great fertility, and 
contains about one hundred and fifty inhabitants, who are gene- 
rally moral, intelligent, and industrious, and who took no part 
whatever in the recent disturbances. The town contains a 
steam saw and grist mill, three stores, and a hotel. 

4:th. — A snow storm, the first of the season, which occurred 
on the 3d, kept the party in camp all that day, where they 
were visited by many of the settlers. The weather to-day was 
cold and windy. Travelled down the Kansas valley, the gover- 
nor visiting the citizens on the route. The people were quietly 
pursuing their ordinary vocations, and everything indicated 
peace and increasing prosperity. Encamped for the night at 
an old Indian camping ground on Mulberry Creek, where 
was an abundance of wood, water, and grass. 

5th. — Entered the Potawattomie reserve, and tavelling ra- 
pidly, crossed Mill Creek, a beautiful clear stream, abounding 
in fish, and afterwards Mission Creek, and encamped for the 
night at the Baptist Mission. The Potawattomie reserve em- 
braces a fertile district, on both sides of the Kansas River, 
thirty miles square. The tribe numbers about three thousand 
six hundred persons. They have a thriving town called 
Uniontown, and two missions; the St. Mary's, the Catholic, 
being on the north, and the Baptist on the south side of the 
river. This last is under the superintendence of Mr. Fox. 
About thirty Indian children are in daily attendance at the 
'school, some of whom exhibit considerable aptness in learning. 

6th. — The governor issued the following proclamation : — ■ 

" Having reached this point, after an extended tour of observa- 
tion through this territory, and being now fully satisfied that 
the benign influences of peace reigns throughout all its borders, 
m consonance with general custom and my own feelings, I 
hereby specially set apart the 20th day of November, instant, 
to be observed by all the good citizens of the territory as a day 
of general thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God for the 
blessings vouchsafed to us as a people,*' 

Proceeded to Topeka, where tne people were quiet and the 



204 HISTORY OF KANSAS. - 

town prospering. Eighty new buildings were being erected. 
Business was in a healthy condition, and all the citizens were 
attending to their proper avocations. Passing through Te- 
curaseh, Big Springs, Washington, and other smaller places, 
and calling at the encampment of United States troops sta- 
tioned near that place, the governor reached his own residence 
at Lecompton late in the evening, having been absent just 
twenty days, during which time he visited hundreds of fami- 
lies, addressed many assemblies of citizens, conducted con- 
siderable official business, and laid the foundations of peace, 
contentment, good will and prosperity in the whole line of his 
travel. On the day after his return he addressed the follow- 
ing letter to the secretary of state : — 

* <* Executive Department, K. T., 

''Lecompton, Nov. 7, 1856. 
"Hon. Wm. L. Marcy, 

'* Secretary of State. 
** Sir: I have just returned to this place after an extended tour of 
observation through a large portion of this territory. 

**I left Lecompton on the 17th ult., via Lawrence, Franklin, 
Wakarusa Creek, Hickory Point, Ottawa Creek, Osawattomie, Marais 
des Cygnes, Bull Creek, Paoli, Potawattomie, North and South Middle 
Creeli^, Big and Little Sugar Creeks, and Sugar Mound, passing 
westward along the California and Santa Fe road to Fori Riley ; 
thence down the Kansas River via Pawnee, Riley City, Manhattan, 
Waubonsee, Baptist Mission, Topeka, Tecumseh, and other places. 
I also visited at their houses as many citizens as I conveniently could, 
and addressed various bodies of people, as I have reason to believe, 
with beneficial results. 

"During this tour I have obtained much valuable information 
relative to affairs in Kansas, and made myself familiar with the wants 
and grievances of the people, which will enable me to make such 
representations to the next legislature and the government at Wash- 
ington, as will be most conducive to the public interests. 

" The general peace of the territory remains unimpaired; confidence 
is being gradually and surely restored ; business is resuming its 
ordinary channels ; citizens are preparing for winter ; and there 
is a readiness among the good people of all parties to sustain my 
administration. 

*' Very respectfully, your obed't servt., 

"Jno. W. Geary, 
"Governor of Kansas Territory." 



THE CAPITOI, BUILDING. 205 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

The capitol building. — Captain Donaldson dismisses^ Justice Nelson's 
court. — Captain Walker surrenders himself. — Dragoons required for 
detached service. — Bad postal arrangements. — Free-state prisoners re- 
moved to Tecumseh. — The governor at Leavenworth. — Report of a de- 
putation sent to arrest marauders. 

November 7th, 1856. — A note having been received from 
Mr. Owen C. Stewart in regard to the capitol buildings, the 
governor addressed him in reply, as follows : — 

'^ As your services as superintendent of the capitol buildings 
are no longer required, you are hereby notified that your ap- 
pointment is revoked from this date/' 

Congress had appropriated fifty thousand dollars to erect 
suitable public buildings for the territory, and Dr. A. Rodrique, 
postmaster at Lecompton, was the principal contractor for their 
election. He was connected in the enterprise, some way or 
another, with Sheriff Jones, Governor Shannon, and other 
officials. The money appropriated would have been sufficient 
for the object if properly expended. As it is, the walls of the 
building have only advanced a few feet above the foundation, 
and the whole amount of the appropriation has been exhausted. 
Mr. Stewart was appointed by Governor Shannon superinten- 
dent, at a salary of one thousand two hundred dollars a year, 
which, although the work had long been suspended, was still 
running on. The same gentleman was a sub-contractor under 
Rodrique, and was therefore required to superintend his own 
work, which was a very convenient sort of an arrangement. 
William Rumbold was the architect, who had contracted to 
receive for his "• compensation four per cent, on the cost 
of the building/' and of course it would not be to his in- 
terest to oppose any amount of expenditure upon its con- 
struction. If it is completed upon the same liberal scale as it 
has been commenced, so far as the outlay of money is con- 
cerned, it may be ready for roofing in by the use of another 
appropriation of two or three hundred thousand dollars. 

On this day, R. R. Nelson, a justice of the peace at Le- 
compton, filed an affidavit with the governor, charging Captain 
John Donaldson, of the territorial militia, with having entered 
his court with six armed men, and rescued a soldier named 
18 



206 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

Fisher, belonging to his company, wlio was then receiving a 
hearing oh the charge of larceny, taking the prisoner away 
and dismissing the court in a manner that would have 
done credit to Oliver Cromwell. A requisition was imme- 
diately made upon Colonel Cook to put Donaldson under arrest, 
which was accordingly done. Upon making suitable apologies, 
and thus appeasing the squire's wounded pride, the captain 
was, in a few days restored to liberty and his command. 

Deputy Marshal Tebbs and probate judge John P. Wood 
called upon the governor for a requisition to serve a warrant 
upon Captain Samuel Walker, then commanding a company 
of militia at Lawrence. The governor assured them there need 
be no difficulty touching that matter; that he would answer 
for the appearance of Captain Walker upon his own summons, 
and simply addressed him a note requesting him to come for- 
ward manfully and meet the charges against him. Walker 
accordingly came to Lecompton, voluntarily surrendered him- 
self, entered bail to appear at court, and returned to Lawrence. 
He was quite a lion during his stay at the capital. 

Sth. — Requisition was made upon Col. Cook for two com- 
panies of United States dragoons to proceed to Paoli, at the 
request of Mr. Maxwell McCaslin, Indian agent, to protect 
him while in charge of the public funds to pay off the Indians 
under his care, and also to scour the southeastern portion of 
the territory, where it was reported a band of thieves were 
prowling and committing depredations. With these troops a 
commissioner and deputy marshal were sent, with instructions 
and power to make arrests of suspicious persons, give them a 
preliminary hearing on the spot, and thus bring justice to the 
doors of the people. 

ISfh. — The governor addressed a lengthy communication to 
the postmaster-general in regard to well-grounded complaints 
concerning the management of the postal affairs of the ter- 
ritory, in which he remarked : — ^^ It requires eleven days for 
a letter to reach this place from Washington City, when a person 
travelling with expedition can accomplish the same distance 
in six days;'^ and then urges him to use his ^' best efforts to 
afford regular and prompt mail facilities for this growing ter- 
ritory.'' 

l6th, — The free-state prisoners, forty in number, were re- 
moved to Tecumseh, where more comfortable quarters had 
been prepared, and where they were to receive their trial ; they 



PUBLIC MEETING AT TECUMSEH. 207 

were attended by an escort of United States troops under 
command of Lieut. Higgins. 

A convict named Charles H. Calkins made his escape from 
prison. A requisition for troops was made by the master of con- 
victs, and a reward of one hundred dollars offered by the gover- 
nor for his capture, but without success. 

16th. A company of mounted U. S. troops was granted to 
Gen. Gr. W. Clarke, Indian agent for the Potawattomies, to 
protect him in the payment of his annuities. 

nth. The governor proceeded to Fort Leavenworth, via 
Lawrence, to attend the public sales of the Indian trust lands. 
These were owned by the Delawares, who number about one 
thousand persons. They are the richest tribe in Kansas, and 
perhaps the wealthiest community in the world. 

ISth. These land sales had attracted to Leavenworth City a 
large concourse of people, not only from every part of the 
territory, but from almost every state in the Union. An in- 
vitation being tendered to the governor, he attended a meeting 
at that place, where he was warmly welcomed, and where ad- 
dresses on the all-important and all-absorbing subject of the 
sales and the general welfare of the country, were made by 
the governor, the mayor, and other prominent citizens. 

26th. A large meeting of citizens of that town and vicinity 
was held at Tecumseh, to chose delegates to attend a conven- 
tion ^^ to be held at Leavenworth City, to consult upon and 
propose a policy upon which the citizens of Kansas, without 
distinction of party, might unite for the preservation of peace 
and a general reconciliation, based upon acquiescence in exist- 
ing legislation, an impartial administration of justice, and op- 
position to external intervention in the affairs of the territory/' 

At this meeting, which was addressed by a number of gen- 
tlemen, both of the pro-slavery and free-state parties, the fol- 
lowing resolutions were unanimously adopted : — 

'^ Resolved, That we cordially approve any and all measures 
that may have a tendency to restore peace and harmony among 
the citizens of Kansas ; that in view of the past and impressed 
with the importance of the present, we earnestly implore our 
fellow-citizens, without distinction of party, to aid in the pres- 
ervation of peace and order by adopting a policy of conciliation. 

'^ Resolved, That whatever difference of opinion may pre- 
vail touching the circumstances that resulted in the adoption 
of existing laws, we deem it the duty of every man to sup- 



208 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

port and sustain these laws, in preference to having no laws at 
all, and continuing the anarchy that has too long prevailed. 

'' Resolved, That we believe the existing territorial laws 
contain provisions that should be repealed, and we have confi- 
dence that the legislature, at the next session, will, with a 
spirit of justice and moderation, correct oppressive legislation. 

'^ Resolved, That we have confidence in the patriotic desire 
and ability of Governor Geary to faithfully administer the 
laws, and protect and enforce the rights of all the citizens of 
Kansas; and we cordially approve the policy that he has 
adopted, and which, thus far, has been attended with the hap- 
piest results towards the restoration of law and order, equality 
and justice. '^ 

The proceedings of this meeting were endorsed by the 
grand jury, who published, with the resolutions, the following, 
to which their names were affixed : — 

^' Resolved, That we, the undersigned grand jury for the 
second judicial district, do hereby approve the foregoing reso- 
lutions, and recommend them to the citizens of Kansas Ter- 
ritory/' 

2^ih. The deputation sent on the 8th instant, in pursuit of 
a band of alleged marauders, who were committing depreda- 
tions in the south-eastern section of the territory, returned to 
Lecompton, and made a lengthy report of their proceedings. 
They succeeded in arresting seven notorious characters, one 
of whom, James Townsley, confessed to having been a mem- 
ber of the party that murdered Wilkinson, Sherman, and the 
Doyles, on the Potawattomie creek. Others were examined 
and committed for felony. The five prisoners committed were 
carried to Tecumseh, and there held in custody to await the 
action of the grand jury. The report of the commission says, 
*' they had but fairly commenced the business with which they 
were charged, when Captain De Saussure informed them that 
he had been ordered into winter quarters at Fort Leavenworth, 
with his command, and that no further assistance could be 
rendered by him. Without a military escort no arrests could 
be made with certainty and safety, and further operations were 
therefore suspended.'' 

A special messenger brought a dispatch to the governor, 
from U. S. Commissioner Edward Hoagland, informing him 
that a band 9f Missourians, in the disguise of United States 
soldiers, had forcibly driven a man named Holmes from the 
territory, that the peace was thereby again endangered, and 



THE PAY OF THE MILITIA. 209 

offering his own, and the assistance of the marshal, to pursue 
the offenders ; to which a lengthy reply was returned, of which 
the following is an extract : — 

^^ In reply, I have to state, that the supposed soldiers were 
real soldiers, sent by me upon the due requisition of peaceable 
citizens of Missouri, accompanied by Deputy- Marshal Preston, 
to arrest certain horse thieves (Holmes among the number), 
who had been plundering the citizens of Missouri ; that they 
did arrest Holmes, and afterwards permitted him to escape, 
very much to my regret; that thus far the efficiency of the 
military is unimpaired, and no further, and that the peace of 
the territory still remains upon a solid basis, as I have the 
most gratifying reports from all quarters." 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Pay of the militia.— -Settlers ordered from Indian reserve. — Sales of Dela- 
ware trust lands. — No prison in Kansas. — The capital appropriation. — 
Governor Greary between two factions. — False reports. — Settlement of 
Hyattville. — Peace still prevailing. 

The important events in the history of the territory for the 

month of December, 1856, are all embraced in the following 

extracts from letters to the president and secretary of state. 

In a letter to Mr. Marcy, of December 8th, the governor 

, says : — 

^' Since my dispatch of 22d ultimo, the United States troops 
have retired to winter quarters, and the territorial militia have 
been mustered out of service, as before indicated. To be dis- 
charged in mid-winter, without means of support, seemed so 
cruel and unjust, that at very considerable inconvenience to 
myself, I raised the money and paid off the disbanded militia. 
I therefore request, that an order be made by the proper de- 
partment, authorizing the payment of the amount due to the 
three militia companies for two and a half months' service. 
This, I think, could be done from the general army appropri- 
.ation, and I could be reimbursed at an early day. 

*' The commission, alluded to in my former dispatch, as sent 
to the southern portion of the territory, with a squadron of 
United States dragoons, have returned, having succeeded in 
18* 



210 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

breaking up, as far as I can learn, the only party of robbers 
infesting the territory, capturing several of them, and succeed- 
ing in arresting one man charged with participation in the 
murders committed on the Potawattomie, in May last, upon 
the Doyles, Wilkinson and Sherman. The result of this com- 
mission has fully equalled my anticipations. Much has been 
accomplished in a brief time, and the squadron accompanying 
it has retired to Fort Leavenworth for winter quarters. 

^' In the territory there are numerous Indian reserves, under 
the government of Indian agents, as entirely independent of 
the executive of the territory as one state is of another. 
Questions of jurisdiction, calculated to produce bad feeling, 
are constantly arising, and collisions between the agents and 
the citizens have ensued. 

^' On the 5th inst., a deputation, representing citizens of 
Wise county, residing near Council Grove, called upon me in 
behalf of numerous settlers in that vicinity, stating that the 
agent of the Kansas Indians had notified them to leave their 
claims within three days, at the peril of being forcibly ousted 
by United States soldiers. The petition states that the peti- 
tioners made settlements and valuable improvements, com- 
mencing in 1854, by virtue of a map issued under the author- 
ity of the Indian department, excluding the land settled upon 
from the Kansas reserve, with the assurance of the Indian 
agent himself, that the land was open for settlement, and that 
they have since been living there with their families. The. 
statements of the petitioners seemed so equitable and reason- 
able, and the season of the year so inclement for their removal, 
that I advised the Indian agent to permit the settlers to re- 
main undisturbed until I could lay the matter before the gov- 
ernment, having satisfactory assurances from the settlers, that 
they would peaceably acquiesce in a decision from that quar- 
ter.^' 

In a letter, dated Leavenworth City, December 15th, the 
governor writes to President Pierce, as follows : — 

^' In response to a letter from the mayor, and accompanying 
petition of leading citizens of Leavenworth City, I came here 
for the purpose of aiding with my counsel and presence, in 
averting a threatened disturbance. I find the public mind 
greatly excited in consequence of some recent instructions 
from the commissioner of Indian affairs, entirely changing' 
the policy which has thus far governed the land sales^ with the 
results so entirely satisfactory to all interests. 



SALE OF LEAVENWORTH-CITY. 211 

^^ Solicitude for the peace of the territory brought me to 
this city on the 17th of November, at the beginning of the 
sales. Many purchasers were here from every part of the 
country, invited by your proclamation, and great apprehension 
of difficulty between them and the squatters was entertained. 
The lands had been previously appraised ^ from one dollar 
and twenty-five cents to twelve dollars per acre. In accord- 
ance with his instructions, the commissioner announced that 
the actual hona fide settler would be permitted to take his 
h\nd at its appraised value, and that only vacant quarter sec- 
tions would be opened for competition. This announcement 
met with universal favor. The speculators themselves, the 
only parties really aggrieved, having come here hundreds of 
miles at heavy expense, on the invitation of the government, 
not only acquiesced in the decision, but actually lauded its 
justice j while the Indians, on the other hand, were satisfied 
with the price they were getting for lands only made valuable 
by the industry, skill and capital of the pioneers who had 
braved everything to improve them. 

^' Such of the speculators as desired farms, made satisfactory 
arrangements with the settlers; while others, on the faith of 
the policy established by the government, and acquiesced in 
by the Indian agent, made large investments in the lots of 
this city. 

'^ In pursuance of the policy and understanding adopted at 
the opening of the sales, all i\iQ Delaware lands advertised for 
sale, including the environs of this city, and also South Lea- 
venworth, with the exception of tlie city iUelf^ have been sold. 
The large sum of nearly four hundred and forty thousand dol- 
lars has been realized, which, together with the proceeds of 
the sale of this city, will make over four hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars, to be distributed among about nine hundred 
Indians, who have yet a magnificent reserve, more than quad- 
rupled in value. by the sale and settlement of the trust lands. 

'^ The city of Leavenworth has been appraised by lots, mak- 
ing it average thirty dollars per acre. The people here are 
desirous that it may be sold to the original town company by 
the lot, at the appraised value^ which would be a much more 
stringent rule than that which has been applied to the rural 
claims. This city, containing a population of over two thou- 
sand, consists of three hundred and twenty acres, or two 
claims, which, by the original settlers, were thrown into a 
town company, and divided into shares. 



212 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

^^ It seems clear to me that every principle of justice re- 
quires that the same rule should be applied to the claims upoa 
which this city has been founded, as that which has been ap- 
plied to other portions of the trust lands, with the additional 
reason in favor of the city, that on the faith of the policy pre- 
viously announced by the government, large investments have 
been made here, and it would be a violation of public faith 
not to secure them. 

/^ What has induced the commissioner of Indian affairs to 
send the new and special instructions for this city alone, I am 
at a loss to conceive ; but I am clear on the point, that, if car- 
ried into effect, they will destroy the peace of the community, 
and for years impair the prosperity of this young metropolis 
of Kansas. 

'^ A meeting of the gentlemen officially connected with the 
subject has been held. I strongly advised that this city should 
be sold to the town company, by lots or blocks, at their ap- 
praised value, in accordance with the rule that has governed 
the previous sales, thus giving entire satisfaction to the In- 
dians, the original settlers and the recent purchasers, in order 
that the exciting question might at once be settled, and the 
minds of the people relieved from a heavy load of anxiety. 
But in this matter I have been overruled, and it was deemed 
advisable to send Mr. Commissioner Eddy and Colonel Rus- 
sell to Washington, to lay the whole matter before the govern- 
ment, in order to procure more satisfactory instructions. 

'' This subject is difficult to comprehend by any person not 
on the spot, and not conversant with it in all its bearings. I 
have given much thought and examination to the question, 
and have come to the deliberate conclusion, that the peace of 
the territory (which I regard as of greater importance to the 
country than the entire value of the lands) cannot easily be 
maintained unless some policy be adopted which will be satis- 
factory to the people, the original settlers and the recent pur- 
chasers.^' 

A letter to the secretary of state, under date of Lecompton, 
December 2 2d, with other useful information, contains the 
following facts and suggestions : — 

'^ There is not a prison in the territory in which a prisoner 
can be safely secured for a single hour. Where crime has 
been so abundant, the necessity of a penitentiary is too evi- 
dent to require elaboration from me. An appropriation for 
this purpose should immediately be made by Congress. 



FALSE RErRESENTATIONS. 213 

'^ The appropriation -to build the capitol at this place has 
been nearly exhausted, and is entirely inadequate to complete 
the building upon the plan which has been adopted. The 
architect informs me that an additional appropriation of at 
least fifty thousand dollars will be required. 

"• In order that the government may fully understand my 
position here, and guard against rumors and reports studiously 
set in motion by certain parties whose political interests most 
strongly commit them against the policy which has been estab- 
lished here, it seems proper that I should make certain devel- 
opments, 

'^ Because I will not co-operate with certain efforts to estab- 
lish a state government, and lend myself to carry out views 
which are outside of the constitution and the laws, I am mis- 
represented by a few ultra men of one party. Because I will 
not enter upon a crusade in support of one idea, and endorse 
a series of resolves passed on the night of the last session of 
the Kansas Legislature, making but a single issue in Kansas, 
to wit, the introduction of slavery ; denouncing the national 
democratic party from which I have the honor to hold my 
appointment; and branding as abolitionists or disunionists ail 
persons not agreeing with these principles, — I am equally the 
subject of misrepresentation by a few violent men on the other 
side. My uniform reply to all objectors, is, that my position 
shall not be prostituted to advance partisan ends, it being my 
simple duty to administer the government, and leave the peo- 
ple free to settle and regulate their own affairs. 

'' The territorial officers, with scarcely an exception, were 
warm partisans of the last named party organization ; so much 
so as to deprive themselves of all ability to act as mediators 
between the contending factions. 

" The development of my policy and its happy results has 
produced considerable agitation among some ultra men, and 
various rumors, as unfounded as they are desperate, have been 
put in circulation here, and exaggerated statements forwarded 
to Washiffgton, directly calculated to disturb the peace of the 
territory, and studiously intended to produce that effect. 

'^ The whipping of Mr. Tuton, and the threatening of Mr. 
John Spicer, have been greatly exaggerated. Mr. Tuton was 
whipped, for the reason, as it is alleged, that he was treacher- 
ous to his former associates; but he was not seriously injured ; 
and proper measures have been taken to redress the outrage. 
In reply to my note, Mr. John Spicer informs me that he has 



214 HIStOfi,Y OF KANSAS. 

not been threatened ; that he lives in a peaceable community, 
and feels entirely secure.- 

^^ A party of some ninety men, mostly disbanded militia, 
have gone, in charge of Thaddeus Hyatt, Esq., with provi- 
sions and necessary tools, to found the town of Hyattville, on 
the south branch of the Potawattomie Creek, and make settle- 
ments there. These persons were out of employment, likely 
to become a charge on the town of Lawrence, and Mr. Hyatt 
projected this scheme, to furnish them with useful occupa- 
tion, and prevent them from falling into habits of indolence 
and vice. He fully explained the matter to me previous to 
putting it into execution, and it met my approval. '' 

On the 31st of December, the governor addressed Secretary 
Marcy, as follows : — 

'^ In reviewing, on this, the last evening of the year, the 
events of the past four months, and contrasting the disturbed 
condition of affairs upon my advent with the present tranquil 
and happy state of things, which has held its sway for the 
last three months, I must congratulate the administration and 
the country, upon the auspicious result. Crime, so rife and 
daring, at the period of my arrival, is almost entirely ban- 
ished. I can truthfully assure you, that in proportion to her 
population and extent, less crime is now being committed in 
Kansas, than in any other portion of the United States.'' 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

The Topeka Legislature. — Arrest of its members. — Appropriation of Ver- 
mont Legislature for the suffering poor of Kansas. 

January 6th, 1857. — This day having been appointed for 
the meeting of the Free-State Legislature, some of its mem- 
bers accordingly met at Topeka ; but their numbers not being 
sufficient to form a quorum, no organization was effected. 
They held an informal meeting, and adopted a memorial to 
Congress. 

Considerable apprehension had been entertained and ex- 
pressed in regard to the probable results of this meeting, and 
hence, precautions had been quietly taken by the governor to 
guard against any unlawful or evil consequences. A confi- 



A MISCHIEVOUS PLAN FRUSTRATED. 2l5 

dential agent had been sent to give timely notice of wliatever 
might transpire, and other arrangements were made for such 
action as exigencies might demand. 

There were certain restless persons, however, about Lecomp- 
ton, who were unwilling to trust the management of this aflPair 
to the discretion of the governor. They thought they per- 
ceived another opportunity for a disturbance, and their dispo- 
sition for mischief was too strong to let this pass by unim- 
proved. Sheriff Jones had been laying his plans, and fancied 
he had them so admirably arranged, that a failure to accom- 
plish the object he desired, was impossible. These he kept 
carefully concealed from the governor, though he was a daily 
visitor at the executive office. Had not these plans been frus- 
trated, the peaceful intentions of the executive would have 
been thwarted, and a renewal of a fierce civil conflict through- 
out the territory would have ensued. The most careful and 
constant watchfulness was, therefore, necessary, to guard 
against the secret and mischievous machinations of men who 
were determined that peace should not exist, except through 
the extirpation of their political opponents. 

A writ, for the arrest of the Topeka legislators, had been 
quietly issued by Judge Cato, on the oath of Sheriff Jones, 
which was served by Deputy Marshal Pardee, (Jones being 
present to prevent any mistake,) on the members assembled, 
who yielded themselves prisoners, without resistance or hesi- 
tation. 

This quiet submission to legal authority on the part of the 
Topeka Legislators, was the last thing the sheriff desired or 
expected. He had looked forward to the time of this meeting 
with the same anxiety and inward satisfaction as he had pre- 
viously awaited the day appointed for the sacking of Lawrence. 
It was to be another jubilee. He was once more to play the 
part of a hero. His programme had been carefully prepared. 
The legislature was to have met — the marshal to serve his 
»vrits — the members would of course, refuse to recognise his 
authority — this would furnish a sufficient pretext for making 
forcible arrests, the attempt to do which would be resisted, 
and another violent outbreak and bloody strife be the result. 
The governor was to be soundly abused for permitting the 
illegal legislature to assemble — all the evil consequences were 
to be charged to his account — and a petition dispatched to 
Washington demanding his removal. The free-state party 
was thus to be crushed out by the sagacity and energy of the 



216 HISTORY OE KANSAS. 

indomitable steriff, who was to have been applauded to the 
skies for his unflagging patriotism. This scheme had cost 
Jones an immense amount of mental labor. It was the con- 
trivance of several months* deep and anxious consideration 
and study. Sleeping or waking, it was doubtless uppermost 
in his thoughts. What, then, was his disappointment and 
mortification at its entire frustration. Just as he was raising 
the cup of triumph to his lips, it was suddenly dashed from 
his hand. Upon perceiving the completeness of his discom- 
fiture, he quietly took his seat in his buggy, and sullenly drove 
from Topeka, doubtless muttering curses between his teeth 
against the legislature, the marshal, governor, and sundry 
other individuals who had aided in defeating the accomplish- 
ment of one of his dearest wishes. Upon reaching Lecompton, 
he retired immediately to his home, and was never afterward 
heard to refer to his futile visit to Topeka. 

The prisoners were conveyed to Tecumseh, and retained 
until the following day, when they received a hearing before 
Judge Cato, who had been instrumental in the arrest, but who 
liberated them on bail, in their own recognisance in the sum 
of five hundred dollars each. They were, of course, never 
brought to trial, the district attorney entering nolle prosequies 
in theirs, as in the case of all other of the free-state treason 
prisoners. Thus ended in a farce, a performance which the 
principal actors had intended for a serious and fearful tragedy. 

7th. — A letter was received by Governor Geary from his 
excellency. Governor Fletcher, of Vermont, giving informa- 
tion that the legislature of that state had .appropriated the 
sum of twenty thousand dollars for the relief of the suffering 
poor of Kansas, '' upon full and satisfactory proof of the neces- 
sity of their condition,'^ and asking information in regard to 
the facts. In reply to which the following letter was dispatched 
to Gov. Fletcher: — 

** Executive Department, K. T., 

*' Lecompton, Jan. 7, 1857. 
*' His Excellency, Gov. Fletcher, 
** Burlington, Vermont. 
*' Dear Sir: Your favor of the 22d ultimo, -with a copy of an act of 
the legislature of Vermont, entitled * An act for the relief of the poor 
of Kansas,' has been received. I am happy to inform you that I am 
not aware of the existence of any condition of things in this territory 
that will render necessary the employment of the money you have so 
liberally placed at our disposal. 

"There is doubtless some suffering within the limits of Kansa.s 



THE SUFPERINQ POOR. 217 

consequent upon past disturbances and the present extremely cold 
"weather ; but probably no more than exists in other territories or in 
either of the states of the Union. 

*' No man who is able and willing to work need be destitute of the 
means of a comfortable livelihood in Kansas. Laborers and me- 
chanics are in demand, and cannot be obtained, at wages ranging 
from $1.50 to $3.00 per day. Indeed so far as my observation has 
extended, the deserving and industrious portions of our population 
are in the full enjoyment of more than ordinary contentment and 
prosperity. 

"Should any facts hereafter come to my notice such as to require 
the aid you have so kindly offered, I will assuredly make the applica- 
tion you suggest. 

** With assurances of the highest regard, I have the honor to sub- 
scribe myself, 

** Your obedient servant, 

*'Jno. W. Geary." 

At the time these letters were passing there were, perhaps, 
two hundred men in the town of Lecompton, at least one-half 
of whom were out of employment, though they were evidently 
supplied with funds from some invisible source to supply 
their immediate wants and support them in idleness. Labor- 
ing men and mechanics were greatly needed, but the idlers 
could not be induced to work. It was much easier to lounge 
about the groggeries and denounce abolitionists, than make a 
livelihood by honest industry. Fire-wood brought readily 
from three to four dollars per cord, and the citizens found it 
difficult to obtain a supply, though the river was frozen over, 
and any quantity of good fuel lay upon the opposite shore a 
few hundred yards distant, that could have been brought 
over by hand on rude sledges, at which easy employment at 
least three dollars a day could have been earned; but it was 
quite apparent that the most of the people about Lecompton 
had not come there to work. It would, perhaps, have been a 
degradation for the most destitute of those gentlemen, who 
had come to the territory to advocate the cause of negro slavery, 
to resort themselves to manual labor. The settlers in the 
country, though many of them had suffered from the past 
disturbances, were generally comfortable. During Governor 
Oeary's tour of observation, he travelled many miles, and 
visited hundreds of families; but found very few cases of 
absolute distress. 



218 HISrORY OF KANSAS. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

Meeting of the Territorial Legislative Assembly at Lecomptou. 

The Legislative Assembly met at Lecompton on the 12th 
of January, and organized by appointing Kev. Thomas John- 
son, of Shawnee Mission, president of the Council, and W. G. 
Matthias, of Leavenworth City, speaker of the House of Rep- 
resentatives. A committee was appointed to wait upon the 
governor and apprise him of the organization, which was done 
on the following morning, when his message was sent in and 
read before both houses. Orders were given to the proprietors 
of the Lecompton Union, who were elected printers for the 
territory, to print six thousand five hundred copies of this 
document ; but as they had neither paper nor presses to supply 
the order, the copies were never printed. The government, 
however, which is sometimes exceedingly obliging, will pay the 
bill, notwithstanding the omission on the part of the public 
printers to supply the work. It was better, perhaps, that the 
circulation of the message should have been restricted to the 
narrowest possible limits. The members of the legislature, or 
rather the great majority of them, looked upon it as an insult 
and outrage upon all pro-slavery men, inasmuch as the gover- 
nor had not endorsed the actions of the ^territorial militia,'' 
or the "Idiw and order'' army, and denounced the free-state 
men who had taken up arms to protect the persons of their 
women, their property and themselves from the violence of a 
legalized horde of ruffians. The animadversions against his 
excellency on this score, were sufficiently eloquent and fierce 
to satisfy the most exacting of his opponents. 

One of the first proceedings of this legislative body, was to 
hold a secret meeting, in which it was resolved, that should 
any act pass both houses by a majority of votes, and then be 
vetoed by the governor, there should be a mutual agreement 
to disregard the veto, and pass the act by a two-third vote, 
which was strictly adhered to in all their subsequent proceed- 
ings. At the previous session they had stripped the governor 
of every vestige of power or authority save that specially named 
in the organic act, and this act they caused to be so printed as 
to take from him the pardoning power. They now concluded 



THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. 219 

to deprive him of the only privilege remaining, which was that 
of vetoing offensive, obnoxious and unjust enactments. The 
governor was apprised of this fact, but scarcely believing so 
infamous a measure possible, attempted to arrest several bills, 
by offering the most tangible objections, which only served to 
excite the merriment of members and call down upon his own 
head the most violent anathemas. Indeed, the greater portion 
of the time of the session was taken up, with long speeches 
denunciatory of his excellency for his supposed impartiality, 
or rather his unwillingness to '^ go in^^ heart and soul, with all 
his ability, influence and power, to advance the interests of the 
pro-slavery cause. So entirely were they devoted to this pe- 
culiar object, that it was a common expression among the idlers 
of the town, when no better employment was on hand, to say 
to each other, '' Come, let us go over to the House to hear 
Jenkins,^^or Brown, or Anderson, or O'Driscoll, or Johnson,, or 
Bome other prominent orator, *^ abuse the governor.'^ For hours 
at the time, would admiring audiences stand listening to these 
gentlemen's vituperations. It is a great loss to the world that 
their speeches were not phonographed and preserved for fu- 
ture generations. Never again will a similar amount of that 
peculiar style of eloquence emanate from any legislative body. 
So determined were some of these gentlemen to denounce the 
governor, agreeably to outside instructions, that they entered 
upon the work with a most commendable spirit and energy 
whenever they could obtain the floor, or stand upon their feet, 
which was not always the case. On one occasion, Jenkins, 
who was the most violent of the violent, had advocated a certain 
measure with great vehemence, and supposing it would meet 
the governor's disapprobation, caused a vote to be passed, ask- 
ing information of his excellency on the subject. It so hap- 
pened that the governor agreed precisely with Mr. Jenkins, 
and sent in a brief message to that effect. Jenkins, however, 
despised listening to anything from the governor's pen, and 
therefore crammed his fingers into his ears until the message 
was read, when he suddenly sprang to his feet, and for the 
hundredth time repeated his tirades of abuse. He was pro- 
ceeding in one of his most eloquent strains. He stamped 
violently upon the floor — struck the table with his fist, knock- 
ing over the inkstand, and pronounced his anathemas with a 
voice that fairly shook the roof overhead — when he was 
arrested by a loud and universal burst of laughter. He stopped 
and looked around as though enquiring the cause of such aa 



220 HISTORY or KANSAS. 

unusual interruption^ when the speaker informed him that he 
had mistaken the tenor of the governor's message, his excel- 
lency having agreed with his views in every particular. ^' Then/' 
said the orator, striking the table another violent blow, "had 
I known that I would have taken the other side of the ques- 
tion V^ Nothing could have been more amusing than to witness 
the efforts of some of these orators to preserve their equilibrium 
whilst d^ivering themselves of their wisdom. The desperate 
struggle to stand erect — the hiccups which interspersed the 
most eloquent sentences — the rocking to and fro, and grasping 
at the backs of chairs or tops of tables, and most of all, the 
palpable desire to appear sober, all conspired to furnish a most 
admirable study for a dramatic artist. 

There were some good men in this assembly; but their 
number was so small, that their influence was of little avail, 
and they were always in the minority, when any measure was 
proposed to which they could not give their sanction. Some 
of these, in the early part of the session, retired to their homes 
in disgust at their associates, whilst others remained, hoping 
even against hope, that they might be enabled to circumvent 
some evil machination. But the majority of the members 
were of the most rabid of the pro-slavery fire-eaters, who had 
but one idea, and that the introduction of slavery as a perma- 
nent institution into Kansas. And it is quite probable, judg- 
ing from their uniform behavior, they never for a momeat 
supposed that any means to accomplish that end, however des- 
perate or unlawful, was deserving of reprehension. They were 
mostly men of limited education, rude manners, violent char- 
acter, intemperate habits, and desperate fortune. There were 
those, however, always at their elbows, guiding, directing and 
controlling their legislative conduct, sufficiently cunning, shrewd 
and intelligent to mould them to their will, and use them as 
tools to effect their purposes. 

Lecompton was at that time, and now is, a sort of moral 
plague spot in Kansas, and as such is shunned by all good 
people coming into ihe territory. When it was first laid out 
for a town, Sheriff Jones declared that no free-state man should 
own property in it, and so infamous has been its character 
ever since, that none will purchase there who can succeed any- 
where else. Hence, when the legislature met, there were no 
suitable accommodations for the visitors. The weather was 
severely cold, the thermometer being some nights thirty de- 
grees below zero. Beds and bedding, as well as shelter^ were 



JACK Thompson's restaurant. 221 

scarce, and wholesome provisions could not be obtained in suf- 
ficient quantities to supply the demand at any price. There 
was consequently much suifering, and several deaths occurred 
from exposure. 

A few of the most respectable members of the legislature 
obtained boarding at several private houses, some of them being 
compelled to sleep at night on the floors of the legislative halls. 
The great portion of the body boarded and lodged at \^at was 
called ^^Jack Thompson's Restaurant/' the proprietor being 
himself a member of the House of Representatives. This was 
a one-story frame building, the ground floor, which* was the 
only one, being divided into three rooms, in the principal of 
which the bar was kept, whilst in the others faro, draw-poker, 
and other gambling games were played every night and on every 
Sunday, for the entertainment, if not the profit, of the law- 
makers. There was an extensive cellar underneath this slight 
Building, where the cooking and eating were done. The dining 
tables furnished lodging room for a number of boarders, who 
spread their blankets upon them when the dishes were re- 
moved. The bar-room also provided a number with lodging. 
This was generally crowded, and immense quantities were here 
drunk of a most infamous compound of vile drugs, the quali- 
ties and character of which were only known to the manufac- 
turer, but which he could safely have warranted to destroy 
the constitution of the strongest man, in a very limited time, 
and which ^^ Jack Thompson" and his bar-keepers sold for 
whiskey at a dime a glass. This stufl" seemed to produce a 
very peculiar efi'ect, and to its influence must be ascribed very 
many of the ferocious and insane deeds which have blackened 
the history of Kansas. Late at night this bar-room was cov- 
ered with a few inches of saw-dust, upon which, as the out- 
siders withdrew, boarders, mostly legislators, would stretch 
themselves out and fall asleep. One night a stage driver hap- 
pened to drink some of that whiskey, which, if it was not sure 
to kill, was certain to make drunk, and he rolled over on the 
floor among the members. In the morning, whilst engaged 
in shaking off the saw-dust, he was accosted by one of the 
thousand borers for bank charters, or railroad bills, or town 
company corporations, to obtain his influence to get an act 
through the legislature. This threw the stage-driver into a 
violent passion, and the borer came near getting a flogging. 
^'It is bad enough," said the stage-driver, ^ Ho get drunk, and 
make a fool of myself, and get into bad company, but no man 
19* 



222 HISTORY 01- KANSAS. 

shall insult me by mistaking me for a member of the Kansas 
Legislature/^ 

The principal business of the assembly, after that of abusing 
the governor, was to incorporate an almost endless number of 
roads, railroad, ferry, bridge, and town associations. The latter 
were so numerous as to elicit the suggestion from a wag, that 
it was highly important to offer a bill withholding a few acres 
of the land in the territory for farming purposes. In passing 
these atts, the legislature exhibited a forethought for them- 
selves that would have done credit to the '^unjust steward" 
so highly- commended for his prudence in one of the gospel 
parables. The charters were closely examined, and wherever 
it seemed probable that the scheme would prove profitable to 
the corporators, the names of those contained in the bills, es- 
pecially if suspected of free-soilism^ were erased, and an equal 
number or more of those of the members, were substituted, in 
which form the bill would become a law. A gentleman from* 
Missouri, with the strongest pro-slavery proclivities, who had 
business transactions with the legivslature, remarked : — ^^ This 
is the most corrupt body that ever assembled in the world. 
Had the Saviour came down from heaven and offered a bill 
that would have saved the country from irretrievable ruin, 
unless it could have been made clear that it would be condu- 
cive to their own immediate personal interests it would have 
been defeated; whilst on the other hand, they would, if liber- 
ally paid, push through the most obnoxious and infamous act, 
even were it presented by the very devil himself V 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

Act of the Legislative Assembly, to authorize courts and judges to admit 
to bail in all eases. — Veto message of the governor. — The bill passed. — 
Clarke and others bailed under the new law. 

The first act of the Legislative x\ssembly was a direct at- 
tempt to recreate disturbances, by agitating anew the ques- 
tion of difficulty between Governor Geary and Judge Le- 
compte, growing out of the bailing by the latter, of the mur- 
derer of Buflfum. This was the passage of a bill, intended as 
an endorsement of Lecompte's conduct, and disapproval of 



VETO MESSAGE. 228 

tlie governor's, and giving to any district judge autliority to 
bail all persons charged with any and every crime, whethei 
previouslv considered bailable or not. The following is a copy 
of this bill :— 

"The District Comi:, or any judge thereof, in vacation, shall 
have power and authority to admit to bail, any prisoner on 
charge^ or under indictment for any crime or offence, of any 
character whatever, whether such crime or offence shall have 
heretofore been bailable or not; such court or judge, (Jn every 
Buch application for bail, exercising a sound discretion in the 
premises. '^ 

This bill was returned by the governor unsigned, with his 
objections, which are sufficiently important and interesting to 
be given to the reader: 

" To the Council and House of Representatives of Kansas 
Territory. 

"Gentlemen: — The Bill, 'To authorize Courts and Judges 
to admit to bail in certain cases,' has been carefully exam- 
ined, and notwithstanding my earnest desire to agree with the 
legislature, I am compelled to return it without approval, for 
the following reasons : — 

^The doctrine that the more certain the punishment of 
crime is made, the greater will be the restraints upon the 
evil passions of wicked men, has been established in all civi- 
lized communities, and approved by the wisdom and experi- 
ence of every age of the world ] and had we no other evidence 
of its truth, more than sufficient has been furnished in the 
disturbances and outrages which have so recently occurred in 
the Territory of Kansas ; for no one can be insensible of the 
fact, that the impunity that has here been given to crime, has 
been the cause of many of the offences that have been com- 
mitted. Had but a few of the early agitators, and defiants of 
law, been brought to punishment, the subsequent events which 
every good citizen deplores and condemns, would never have 
occurred. 

"It is of the utmost importance to the safety of society 
that the laws should be rendered as stringent, and their exe- 
cution as certain as possible; especially as regards the crime 
of wilful and deliberate murder. Such an offence should be 
guarded against with the utmost care. No door, whatever, 
should be opened for the escape of the criminal. Once in the 
hands of the proper authoriti^, he should there be secured 



224 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

until the ends of justice are effected. The man whose life 
has been forfeited to the law, will stop at no means within the 
range of human possibility to accomplish his escape; for ^what. 
will a man not give in exchange for his life V 

^' The act under consideration makes it comparatively easy 
for the most notorious criminal to escape the punishment his 
crimes have merited. Any judge of a district court is thereby 
allowed to set him at liberty on bail. The bill does not even 
establish the amount of bail required. This, as well as the 
propriety of bailing, is left to ih^ discretion of the court or 
of the district judge. Were the bill passed expressly to tam- 
per with and corrupt the judiciary, it could. not have been 
more effectual. All human beings are fallible, and it is a 
sound principle to throw in their way to err, as few tempta- 
tions as possible. No judge who has a proper regard for his 
own reputation, can desire the passage of a law which will 
render him liable to invidious imputations. If this bill be- 
comes a law, appeals will be made to the district judge to bail 
every person charged with the crime of murder, and the 
strongest inducements will be offered to influence his action. 
Should he refuse to accede to the wishes of the individual ac- 
cused, or his importunate friends, he will subject himself to 
the charge of some unjust bias ; while on the other hand, 
Bhould he yield to such importunities he is almost certain of 
being charged with bribery and corruption ; and violence to- 
wards himself might ensue in either case. The judge, there- 
fore, would prefer to avoid the additional responsibility which 
this bill imposes. 

'' But apart from this, one tendency of the act is to corrupt 
the judiciary. It will not do to affirm that this is impossible. 
It has frequently been done to such an extent as to endikn- 
ger the safety of communities, and even incite to anarchy, 
with all its fearful consequences. The intention of the laws 
have been so disregarded, that the people, in self-defence, 
have repudiated the courts, and in opposition to all legislative 
enactments, have taken upon themselves the administration of 
justice. Indeed, in every instance where Mynch law' has 
been resorted to, the excuse given by the people has been 
founded upon the laxity of the courts, or the inefficiency or 
corruption of the judiciary. 

'' This want of confidence in the authorities regularly con- 
stituted for the execution of justice upon persons charged 
with heinous crimes, produced those terrible excitements in 



VETO MESSAGE. 225 

California, consequent upon the organization cf the memora- 
ble ^ Vigilance Committee/ 

^^It is to be hoped that a similar condition of things may 
never transpire in Kansas, though it may well be anticipated, 
if murder is permitted by the courts to be perpetrated with 
impunity. The murmurings on this subject are even now 
loud and almost universal. Some of our best citizens have 
been stricken down by the hand of the assassin, whose blood 
has cried in vain upon the legal tribunals for justice. And 
although many have fallen victims to this atrocious crime, not 
one of its numerous perpetrators has yet suffered the just 
penalty of the law. The murderer, his hands still reeking 
with human gore, walks unmolested in our midst, laughing to 
scorn the laws which condemn him to an ignominious death. 

^^Let the law contemplated in this bill be adopted, and this 
evil, already sufficiently deplorable, will be rendered far worse. 
The sHght restraints now held upon the vicious, will be almost 
entirely removed. No good citizen can venture in the streets 
or upon the highways, with a proper feeling of security. 
The personal safety of all who are well disposed, will be con- 
stantly endangered. The odious practice of bearing concealed 
"weapons for self-defence will become general, and the most 
disastrous results will follow. Every man, conscious of the 
uncertainty of punishment by the courts, will take the law in 
his own hands, and the slayer of one individual will fall a vic- 
tim to the retaliatory vengeance of another. Or should he 
be brought before a judge or court, and liberated upon bail, 
an offended people will arise in their majesty, and prevent his 
escape by the infliction of summary punishment. 

^^ The fact that bail has been given, will have no tendency 
to prevent these results ; for no one can have confidence in 
the security furnished by such bail as a deliberate murderer 
can obtain. The person who will step in between him and 
the execution of justice, must himself be destitute of those 
feelings and sentiments which will render him worthy the con- 
fidence of peace-loving citizens. Or even were it otherwise, 
and the murderer is substantially bailed by a wealthy relative 
or friend, the only object in the whole transaction is the crimi- 
nal's escape; for any amount of property, under such circum- 
stances, will be forfeited to preserve his life. But in the ma- 
jority of cases the bail is entirely worthless, and its being 
admitted by a court or judge is equivalent to the murderer's 
discharge; for no one who is conscious of a conviction that 
P 



226 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

will condemn him to death, will ever present himself for tnal. 
If he has wealth, he can purchase sureties, and if he has not, 
he may obtain the aid of those who are worthless, or if pos- 
sessed of the property to which they swear, may dispose of it 
at pleasure, and thus defraud the territory as well as justice. 
Bail-bonds, as now given, are of little value even in trivial 
cases; for when forfeited the amount is seldom collected. To 
make them of any avail, a lien should immediately be created 
on the lands of the persons acknowledging them, ^ and the ex- 
ecution issued by virtue of a judgment thereon, may rightly 
command the taking and sale of the lands, of which defend- 
ant was seized at the time the recognisance was acknow- 
ledged.' Were this rule of law adopted, there would be some 
value in a bail-bond, and fewer persons would be found willing 
to execute it. But as the law now rests in this territory, a 
criminal may be bailed to-day upon what is apparently tangi- 
ble security, and to-morrow, both himself and sureties dispose 
of all their property, and unmolested and quietly depart to 
another region, and thus the matter ends. In the majority 
of instances therefore, the taking of bail in criminal cases, 
only tends to defeat the ends of justice, and in every case of 
absolute premeditated murder, where the proof is clear, or^ 
sufficient to convict, is tantamount to an acquittal of the cri- 
minal. 

^^The fact that we have no sufficient prisons for the safe- 
keeping of the murderer, affords no argument for the passage 
of the bill. This want can soon be supplied, and it will be 
better far to commence that work at once, than to adopt a law 
which must remove the almost only restraint that now exists 
upon murderous inclinations and passions. There is no neces- 
sity for deliberate murderers to be set free, on bail or other- 
wise, for want of a prison to keep them in lengthy confine- 
ment. Frequent sessions of the courts, early trials, and 
speedy executions, will dispose of such cases, and give to the 
people confidence in the judiciary and the laws, and a sense 
of security of which they have so long been deprived. 

/^Remove or weaken anyone of the safeguards we now 
possess against criminals and crime, and the peace we enjoy 
must measurably be shaken. Hence it becomes a subject of 
the utmost importance, not only to guard against such a re- 
sult, but to adopt, if possible, laws which will strengthen the 
general confidence, by making the barriers to the escape of 
the criminal even more firm and impassable. 



THE CASE OF SHERRARD. 221 

" Let it be established and universally known, tbat ^ though 
hand join in hand, the guilty shall not go unpunished/ that 
the blood-stained murderer once in the power of the authori- 
ties, shall have no possibility or hope of escape ; that he who 
wilfully and deliberately sheds the blood of his fellow-man 
shall surely suffer the penalty by which his life is forfeit, and 
our laws will be more respected ; fewer crimes will be com- 
mitted ; and the community will repose in far greater security 
and peace. 

" Jno. W. Geary. 

" Lecompton, K. T., January 22d, 1857/' 

The bill, notwithstanding these substantial reasons for its 
rejection, was passed by an almost unanimous vote of both 
houses. On the following day, George W. Clarke, charged 
with the murder of Barber, Dr. J. H. Stringfellow, Captain 
William Martin, and other pro-slavery men, against whom un- 
served warrants had been in the hands of the marshal for 
several months, appeared voluntarily before Judge Cato, of- 
fered bail, and were discharged. The sureties in Clarke's 
case, were the ever-ready Sheriff Jones, and the probate-judge 
and United States Commissioner John P. Wood. This was 
the first action under the new bail law. Clarke, from that 
time, was daily within the bar of the house, instructing the 
members, until the adjournment, when he proceeded to Wash- 
ington, and became an adviser of President Buchanan, the 
Cabinet and Robert J. Walker. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

Resolution of the legislature asking the governor's reasons for not com- 
missioning Wm. T. Sherrard — Governor Geary's reply — Conduct of the 
legislators — Violence of Sherrard. 

The next important legislative act was the adoption of a 
resolution, demanding of tie governor his reasons for not 
having issued a commission to Wm. T. Sherrard, who had 
some time previous been appointed by the county tribunal, as 
sheriff of Douglas county, in place of Samuel J. Jones, who 
had resigned. The obvious design of this resolution was to 
inveigle the governor into a quarrel and embarrass him in the 



228 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

prosecution of his duties, and so it was avowed and generally 
understood. 

It had so happened, that immediately after Sherrard had 
received his appointment, he called upon the governor, and 
somewhat insolently asked for his commission. The blanks 
being then in possession of the secretary of the territorj^, whose 
signature and seal were also necessary to complete the paper, 
and Mr. Woodson being absent from the city, the governor 
requested Sherrard to wait until his return, which would at 
the furthest be in two or three days. Soon after, Sherrard 
called again at the executive office, and on this occasion his 
conduct was so exceedingly offensive and insulting as to elicit 
from the governor the inquiry why he (Sherrard) should be so 
inimical to him. Such were his defiances and threats that even 
had the secretary been present, the commission would not then 
have been issued. Next Sherrard wrote and sent a note to 
the governor, informing him that if the commission was not 
received within a certain time, a mandamus would be obtained 
to compel him to render it. 

In the meantime, the members of the county board, who 
had made the appointment, had severally visited the governor, 
requesting him to withhold the commission until they could 
have a regular meeting for the purpose of revoking the 
appointment, which had hastily been made at the instance of 
Sheriff Jones, and without a proper knowledge of the character 
of the applicant, who they were now convinced was utterly 
unfit for the office, in consequence of the violence of his 
disposition, his being almost daily enga^d in street and tavern 
broils, and his threats to disturb the general peace as soon as 
the commission was obtained. Numerous petitions to the 
same effect were also received from respectable citizens of the 
county. 

Whilst the subject was thus pending, Sherrard was proving 
his unfitness for the position he sought, by getting into serious 
difficulties with sundry persons. He boarded at the Virginia 
House, with a man named Locklane, at whom, while at the 
dining table, he threw a plate, and afterwards fired his pistol, 
the ball grazing Locklane' s eyebraw, carrying a portion of it 
away. He then told Locklane to run, promising that he would 
not fire until he had gone ten paces. Not disposed to run, 
under such circumstances, Locklane stood still, with Sherrard' s 
pistohpointed at him, for the space of nearly two hours, when 
he was relieved from his perilous situation by the interposition 



SHERRARD AND THE LEGISLATURE. 229 

of otHer parties. Soon after Sherrard got into a fist fight 
with a man named Brooke, in which he was severely beaten, 
both his eyes having been blackened and shockingly swollen, 
and his face very much disfigured. In this condition he ap- 
plied to each of the supreme judges for a mandamus to com- 
pel the governor \o commission him as sheriff, but without 
success, the judges understanding the case too well to grant 
his wish, notwithstanding it was urged by Mr. David Johnson, 
of Leavenworth, a lawyer, and member of the legislature, 
whom Sherrard had employed in his behalf. He next sent 
General Maclean with a challenge to Dr. Brooke, the propri- 
etor of the Lecompton Hotel, who, declining to meet Sher- 
rJLrd, the latter posted him in huge handbills as a liar, a scoun- 
drel, and a coward. 

Such was the state of affairs when the legislature met, to 
whom Sherrard preferred a complaint against the governor, 
and who passed and sent the following resolution to his ex- 
cellency : — 

^' House of Representatives, 

"January 19, 1857. 
" Resolved, That His Excellency, the Governor of the Territory of 
Kansas, be respectfully requested to furnish the House with a state* 
ment of his reasons for not commissioning Wm. T. Sherrard as sheriff 
of Douglas county. 

** R. C. Bishop, 

"Chief Clerk.'^' 

Although this was a question with which the legislature 
clearly had no right whatever to interfere, rather than treat 
them with even seeming disrespect, the governor somewhat 
reluctantly furnished the following reply to their officious and 
insolent inquiry : — 

"Executive Department, K. T., 

"Lecompton, Jan. 21, 1857. 
" To THE House of Representatives, 

Kansas Territory. 
Gentlemen: In reply to your resolution of the 19th inst., -which 
was received late on the 20th, requesting me to furnish your body 
"with a statement of my reasons for not commissioning William T. 
Sherrard, Esq., as Sheriff of Douglas county, I have the honor to 
state, that while I am disposed to accede to any reasonable request 
from the legislature, I regard that matter as a subject of inquiry only 
from the territorial courts. 

" Prior to its announcement to me, the appointment of Mr. Sherrard 
was protested against by many good citizens of Lecompton and 
20 



230 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

Douglas county, as his habits and passions rendered him entirely 
unfit for the proper performance of the duties of that office. 

*' There was no intention, however, on my part, to withhold his 
commission ; but in consequence of the absence of the secretary of 
the territory, it was delayed for several days, during which time I 
"was informed by many respectable gentlemen, among whom were 
those of the county tribunal froni which he received his appointment, 
that Mr. Sherrard had been engaged in several drunken broils, 
fighting and shooting at persons with pistols, and threatening others. 
I have since been informed that these facts are notorious to the 
citizens of the place, and can easily be substantiated by proof. 
Should the contrary be made clearly to appear, no one will rejoice 
more heartily than myself. 

'* But it is my desire to be distinctly understood that I will com- 
mission no one laboring under such charges as would impair, if not 
entirely destroy, his usefulness ; or whose passions and habits would 
render him unfit for the proper discharge of his duties, or which might 
in any manner endanger the peace of the territory. 

*' I am instructed from the source whence I derive my appointment 
to pursue this course of policy. The true interests of the people of 
the territory require it, and it is sanctioned and approved by my own 
judgment. 

"Jno. W. Geary, 
"Governor of Kansas Territory." 

This communication was received in anything but a kindly 
spirit by the members of the House of Representatives. The 
very reasons assigned for not commissioning Sherrard, were to 
them sufficient reasons for his having been commissioned. 
They desired a man who could keep the community in a state 
of feverish excitement. Sherrard had declared that he would, 
in three weeks, renew the civil commotion. This was precisely 
what the legislature desired, and Sherrard was a man after 
their own heart. Hence the governor's reply to their resolu- 
tion of inquiry was met with some of the most furious ha- 
rangues that were ever heard. Jenkins foamed at the mouth. 
He was for hanging, quartering, burning, and utterly annihi- 
lating his excellency, body, soul, and all that belonged to him, 
Johnson spoke with difficulty. He had been enjoying himself 
with some friends ; but still he had to say, that Sherrard was 
his client, and that Grovernor Greary was a d — d despot, assum- 
ing an arbitrary power from which the autocrat of Russia 
would have shrunk dismayed. Anderson thought the gov- 
ernor should be severely censured for sending such a discour- 
teous message. And 0. H. Brown — Brown walked up and 
down the floor, his hands thrust down into his breeches pocket, 
occasionally giving the unconscious boards a violent kick, 



OUTRAGES OF SHERRARD. 231 

as thougli they liad been guilty of some grievous offence 
deserving chastisement, and then delivered himself of his 
most eloquent effort. ^^ Governor Geary was a usurper, a 
monster, and a tyrant. He (Brown) had searched the records 
of ancient Greece and Rome. He had studied heathen my- 
thology until it was familiar to his very finger ends. He had 
wondered at the atrocities of Nero and Caligula, but he had 
never seen nor heard nor read of anything so abominable and 
worthy of hearty condemnation and execration as this conduct 
of Governor Geary in withholding his commission for such 
reasons as he assigned, from Mr. Sherrard.'^ This powerful 
effort of Brown was afterwards revised, corrected and improved, 
and published in the Lecompton Union ; but as the proprietors 
found it difficulty to procure more paper than would suffice to 
print copies enough to supply the members of the Cabinet 
and other prominent pro-slavery men at Washington, and in the 
southern states, for whose especial instruction and edification 
the Union is published, a copy could not be obtained for trans- 
mission to these pages. 

After these and other distinguished gentlemon had ex- 
hausted the English vocabulary of abusive epithets, well inter- 
larded with Latin, French and Spanish maledictions, and 
sprinkled with specimens of the various Indian dialects, a 
resolution was almost unanimously passed appointing Sherrard 
to the office of sheriff of Douglas county, and, as such, legal- 
izing all his acts, despite the petitions of citizens, the protest 
of the county board, or the refusal of the governor to commis- 
sion. The Council failed to concur with this resolution of 
the House of Kepresentatives, and it was, therefore, of no 
avail. 

This refusal on the part of the Council excited the evil pas- 
sions of Sherrard to a most terrible extent. He was like an 
untamed hyena, and ready to quarrel with and assail any one 
who in the slightest measure opposed his vv^ill. His threats 
against the governor were made wherever he went. Meeting 
Mr. John A. W. Jones, a member of the governor's house- 
hold, and a remarkably peaceable man, of slight physical 
frame, and without arms with which to defend himself, Sher- 
rard assailed and struck him, without the slightest shadow of 
provocation. 

The next day, whilst sitting in one corner of a public sa- 
loon, between David Johnson, his counsellor, and Captain 
Martin, of the Kickapoo Rangers, both members of the Legis- 



232 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

lature, he saw the governor's private secretary on the opposite 
side of the room, and called him over, when he attempted to 
create a quarrel by attacking the official character of the go- 
vernor. The secretary declined entering into the controversy, 
had turned and was about to leave, and notwithstanding he 
was unarmed and extremely feeble from a recent accident, 
Sherrard sprang to his feet and struck him upon the cheek, 
and seizing the handle of Jiis pistol, dared him to resent the 
blow. This was southern chivalry — the courage of cowardice. 
The secretary told him that had he not known he was unarm- 
ed; the insult would not have been offered. There were a 
number of persons present, and Sh^rrard's friends, perceiving 
they were in the minority, forced him from the room. The 
news of this outrage soon spread through the town, and con- 
siderable excitement ensued. A Pennsylvanian, named McDo- 
nald, who had done good service in the Mexican war, hearing 
of the affair, went in search of and found Sherrard, and in- 
quired of him what the disturbance meant. Sherrard immedi- 
ately replied, somewhat boastingly, that he had struck the 
governor's private secretary. 

^^ Then,'' said McDonald, fixing his keen eye upon him, 
and laying his hand upon his pistol, " you did a d d cow- 
ardly act!" 

The other quailed beneath the fiery glance, and coweringly 
sneaked into the door of the nearest groggery, followed to its 
threshold by a willing adversary who was in all respects his 
equal. Here he was among his associates, and was soon after 
heard to boast that he had struck two of the governor's house- 
hold, and his next blow would be at the governor himself. 



ATTEMPT AT ASSASSINATION. 233 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

Bherrard^s abettors — Attempt to assassinate Governor Geary — Action of 
the legislature — Conduct of Judge Cato — Public indignation meetings — 
Outrage at a Lecompton meeting, resulting in the shooting and death of 
Sherrard. 

Although Sherrard possessed passions tliat were ancon- 
trollable when once aroused, and was constantly committing 
acts of violence for which there could be no reasonable excuse, 
he was less reprehensible than certain prominent parties in 
Lecompton, who, having discovered his temper, used him 
simply as a cat^s-paw to consummate some of their most 
infamous designs. Their cool and calculating brains conceived 
the deeds, which his irritable disposition could easily be 
provoked to perpetrate. 

On the night of the assault upon the governor's secretary, 
there was a jollification in the office of the surveyor-general, 
and many were the surmises as to the final result of that afiair. 
Sherrard was present, and so were Sheriff Jones, and A. W. 
Jones, of the Lecompton Union, and Surveyor Calhoun, his 
clerk Maclean, and Gen. Geo. W. Clarke. They had a merry 
time that night. The governor, they exultingly maintained, 
could not help but understand that these abuses of his 
subordinates were nothing more than intended insults to 
himself; and if repeated, he could not otherwise than attempt 
to resent them, and then his doom was sealed. So reasoned 
the conspirators ; and as the room grew thick with clouds of 
smoke from the clay pipes, and the heads of the party still 
thicker with the frequent potations from the whiskey bottle, 
the unfortunate man who was to do their villanous work and 
become their victim was instigated to attempt the commission 
of a crime which, had it succeeded, would have involved the 
country in a bloody civil war. 

On Monday morning, February 9 th, accompanied by Dr. 
Gihon and Richard McAllister, Esq., the governor visited 
successively the Supreme Court, the Council, and the House 
of Eepresentatives, all of which were in session. As they 
passed into the latter hall and took their seats within the bar 
among the members, Sherrard, who occupied a seat in one 
corner of the room, unseen by the governor, was observed to 
20* 



234 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

manifest a strange uneasiness of manner, and with a heavy 
Bcowl upon his countenance, and muttering some unintelligible 
words, he suddenly arose and quitted the apartment. The 
governor remained a half-hour or more, and then took his 
leave. As he was about to step from the main hall into the 
adjoining ante-room, Sherrard stood in the door, having gone 
off and procured an extra pistol to the one he usually wore, 
both of which, contrary to his custom, he had placed conve- 
niently in a belt, buckled on the outside of all his clothing. 
In his breast he also carried a huge bowie-knife. Before the 
governor had "closed the door, Sherrard accosted him with 

'' You have treated me, sir, like a d d scoundrel,'' The 

governor passed on without noticing the man, much less his 
opprobrious salutation. Mr. McAllister followed, and as they 
passed toward the outer door, his person interposed between 
that of Sherrard and the governor. Dr. Gihon was the last to 
leave the hall and enter the ante- room, when he saw Sherrard 
spitting after the governor, at the same time uttering oaths 
and threats of defiance, his right hand firmly grasping one of 
the pistols in his belt. Adjoining the ante-room was another 
small room, the door of which was partially opened, and there 
stood several ruffians who had been apprised of the 'intended 
assassination, and were ready to take their part in the bloody 
work. The governor and his friends were unarmed. Had he 
halted to speak to Sherrard, or turned upon him, or in any 
possible way given an excuse for the deed, he would have 
been shot down like a dog, and himself and companions 
riddled with balls ; and the murderers only would have been 
left to tell the story and justify their infamous crime. To the 
presence of mind and cool courage of the governor, who was 
then in as great peril as he ever had been on the field of 
battle, does he owe his life. The ante-room is in the second 
story of the building, the stairs leading to the ground being 
on the outside, and as the governor descended, Sherrard stood 
upon the platform above, with pistol in hand, hesitating 
whether even yet to fire or not. He followed on, and did not 
abandon his purpose until the length of the building was tra- 
versed, when pronouncing an audible oath, he turned off and 
took a different direction. In a few moments after, he was 
closeted with his abettors and instigators in the office of the 
surveyor-general. It would be no difficult matter to prove that 
the extra pistol provided for this and a subsequent occasion 
was borrowed for the purpose by a prominent member of that 



CONDUCT OF JUDGE CATO. 235 

establisliment. The governor and his party proceeded directly 
to the executive office without naming this occurrence. Sher- 
rard, on the other hand, stopped all he met, and boasted that 
he had endeavored, but without success, to provoke the 
governor to a quarrel, by spitting in his face. 

Without any further information on the subject than was 
gained from Sherrard and his accomplices, the House of 
Representatives, upon whose floor the outrage and attempted 
assassination occurred, immediately took up the subject. A 
conservative member offered a resolution, mildly condemnatory 
of the conduct of the governor's assailant, in doing which he 
raised a most terrible storm. The resolution met with such 
violent opposition, and drew forth such vindictive denunciations 
against the governor, that the mover deemed it expedient to 
withdraw it. Joseph C. Anderson, a member from Missouri, 
maintained that the governor had no business in the halls of 
the legislature, and that he should confine himself to his 
executive office ; whilst Johnson affirmed that he knew the 
assault was to be made, but did not think proper to interfere, 
as he did not consider it any of his business. The Council, 
however, passed a vote of censure against Sherrard. So 
evident was the disposition of many of the members of the 
lower house to encourage these scenes of outrage, that the 
governor's private secretary, whose business required him to 
visit the hall at least once every day, refused fo perform that 
duty without being allowed to carry weapons, contrary to 
former instructions, and having the attendance of an armed 
United States soldier. 

The governor summoned Judge Cato to his office to consult 
him in regard to Sherrard' s conduct; but the judge seemed to 
think the matter of too little importance to receive any serious 
attention, as such outrages were beyond the pale of the law, 
there being no statute by which they could be punished. 
Other counsels prevailed at the time, and an affidavit was made 
out, setting forth the assaults made by Sherrard on several 
different persons, upon which a warrant was drawn for the 
purpose of arresting the offender and putting him under bonds 
to keep the peace. This warrant was unserved for two days, 
during which time, Sherrard, as usual, occupied an almost 
constant place in the House of Representatives. A messenger 
was at length sent to the judge, requesting him to have the 
warrant executed at once, who found Cato within the bar of 
the housC; together with Sherrard and S. J. Jones, who, notwith- 



236 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

standing his pretended resignation, has always continued to 
exercise the functions of his office. Cato said the marshal 
was absent, and the writ could not therefore be served. This 
was clearly the duty of Sheriff Jones, then in the company of 
the accused and the judge. Discovering his entire indisposi- 
tion to have any legal action in the matter, the governor ob- 
tained and destroyed the warrant, and took no further notice 
of the subject. 

Not so the people. An intense excitement pervaded all 
peaceable classes. The prophecies and threats of the assas- 
sination of the governor, which had of late been freely made 
and treated with ridicule, had begun to assume a somewhat 
serious aspect. It was inown on every hand that Sherrard, in 
this whole affair, was but the tool of others. Of this, there 
was no longer room for doubt. Citizens from different neigh- 
borhoods, irrespective of party, thronged the executive office 
to offer their services. Indignation meetings were held in 
various sections of the country, and resolutions condemning 
the recent assault were passed with great unanimity and sent 
to the governor. Of these the following is a specimen of 
many that were received : — 

^^ In view of the late gross insult offered to the Governor of 
the Territory, and in view of the action taken by the House of 
Representatives virtually approving the deed, and in view of 
the general course and policy of the Legislature in opposing 
the measures recommended by Governor Geary: 

'^ We, the citizens of Big Springs, in a public meeting 
called for the purpose, and held on the night of February 11th, 
do most heartily 

" Resolve: That we regard the late insult upon the person 
of the governor, its endorsement by the House, and the con- 
tinued indignities heaped upon him and his officials by the 
Legislature, as well as by certain individuals, as most gross and 
ruffianly, and worthy of the denunciation of every honorable 
and high-minded citizen in the territory. And we do further 

'' Resolve, That Governor Geary, in his general course of 
policy, has our hearty approval; and in carrying out the tone 
and spirit of his late message, he will have our earnest support 
and co-operation. 

"Resolved, also, That we denounce the present Legislature 
as insurrectionary, and its spirit detrimental to the true inte- 
rests of Kansas; not by any means overlooking some good 



INDIGNATION MEETING. 237 

men associated with that body, who labor hard to effect a 
beneficent legislation. These men have our gratitude; while 
we regard the majority as false to the true interests of the 
country, false to the Union, and false to the Governor, whom 
it is their duty to support and aid in the settlement of the 
difficulties of the territory. And 

'' Resolved, finally. That we tender to Grovernor Geary our 
sympathies as well as our support and co-operation, and pledge 
him, to the extent of our power, all the assistance in this 
emergency that he may ask of us, feeling very confident that 
the honest heart and powerful arm of every freeman in Kansas 
will be ready at once to respond most cheerfully to these our 
sentiments.^^ 

Indeed, so exasperated were very many well-disposed citi- 
zens, that had it not been for the opposition of the governor 
to their wishes and intentions, summary punishment would 
have been inflicted upon Sherrard, the Lecompton Union office 
would have been tumbled into the Kansas River, and the Legis- 
lative Assembly hastily expelled from the town. There were 
men ready and anxious to do this work; but the executive, 
learning their intentions, took proper measures to prevent its 
accomplishment. 

A call was published for a meeting of the citizens of Le- 
compton, and vicinity, to be held on Saturday afternoon, the 
14th of February, to publicly express their views regarding 
the recent outrage. Sherrard and his friends (the most pro- 
minent among them being Sheriff Jones, Bennett, of the 
Union, Maclean and Clarke) threatened to break this meeting 
up with violence, and prepared themselves accordingly. Just 
about the time it was assembling, it was announced that General 
Wm. P. Richardson, formerly commander of the militia, and 
a member of the Council, had died, and the meeting was con- 
sequently adjourned until the following Wednesday, the 18th, 
at two o'clock. 

This announcement created considerable commotion, and the 
parties above-named declared in the streets and grog-shops, 
with many profane oaths that a respectable compositor would 
not wish to put in type, even should they be presented in this 
manuscript, that no such meeting should be held in Lecompton. 
Still the meeting was held. Before the hour specified, num- 
bers of persons came pouring in from the surrounding country ; 
and it was soon discovered that Brooke's Hotel, where the 



238 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

as-sembly was to have met, was too small to accommodate half 
the persons present, and it was therefore adjourned to Capitol 
Hill. 

Just before the time appointed for organization arrived, 
those who had threatened to disperse the meeting by violence, 
discovered that they were so largely in the minority that the 
undertaking was to be attended with far more difficulty and 
danger than they had imagined possible. Yet, ashamed to 
shrink from the position they had assumed, they were some- 
what at their wits' end. In their extremity, they sought Judge 
Cato, who, with a man named Boling, formerly a member of 
Captain Emory's company at Leavenworth, was deputed to 
call on the governor, to induce him to interpose his power to 
prevent the citizens from assembling. 

Having listened to Judge Cato's representation that certain 
parties had determined to create a breach of the peace, should 
the meeting be held, and that bloodshed would probably be the 
result, the governor inquired of the judge, who were the par- 
ties that were threatening to deny the people by violence and 
bloodshed the right peaceably to assemble and express their 
opinions? ^' If," asked his excellency, ^^you know of persons 
thus contemplating a breach of the peace, is it not your duty to 
have legal process issued against them, and proper measures 
thus taken to prevent the consummation of their evil designs ? 
So far as I am concerned," continued he, ^^ I have no right 
whatever to step in between the people and the exercise of their 
constitutional privilege to meet together peacefully, to express 
their opinions upon what they consider subjects of public in- 
terest. I know not the objects of this meeting. The call is 
for citizens without distinction of party, to assemble for the 
purpose of giving their views concerning the recent outrage 
upon the governor and the conduct of his administration. It 
would ill become me to interfere with such a meeting. The 
object may be to condemn my own course of action. Shall I 
assume the part of a tyrant, and, in violation of my oath of 
office, and my sense of right and justice, say to these people, 
you shall not assemble for such a purpose ? No, gentlemen ; 
the act would no sooner be accomplished than you would be 
among the first to assail me for an assumption of arbitrary 
power, and use my unlawful procedure as a pretext to do me 
injury." 

Cato hung his head with shame, acknowledged the truth of 



Bennett's speech. 239 

the governor's positions, and took his leave^ remarking, ^- 1 
never before felt so much like a fool V^ 

The meeting assembled at two o'clock. Nearly four hun- 
dred persons were in attendance, composed of all classes of the 
community, and was organized by the appointment of Owen 
C. Steward, Mayor of Lecompton, a pro-slavery man, as chair- 
man. A committee of five was then appointed to draft reso- 
lutions expressive of the sense of the meeting, who having 
retired. Captain L. J. Hampton, also pro-slavery, made a very 
mild and sensible address, which was received with universal 
approbation. Having concluded, R. P. Bennett, junior editor 
of the Union, obtained the stand. He had, in order to screw 
up his courage to the sticking point, poured down such liberal 
quantities of Thompson's vitriolic whiskey, that it required 
some considerable effort to keep his feet, for, in the language 
of the Psalmist, '^ he reeled to and fro, and staggered like a 
drunken man V^ Bennett's speech was a gem. It was well 
known by all present that his object was to create a disturb- 
ance, and it was therefore resolved to pay no serious attention 
to anything he should say or do, as he was considered a mere 
boyish tool, and too insignificant of himself to merit especial 
notice. Hence he was permitted to amuse the assembly 
whilst waiting for the return of the committee. 

^' I tell you,'' said Bennett, ^^this meetin' is not a meetin' 
of gen'lemen — (hie). It aint the law 'd order party — (hie) — 
that's sure." 

His tongue was as thick as his brain was addled, and his 
words were chopped off very often in the middle. 

^^ I say — I tell yer — (hie) — this meetin's the rag — (hie) — 
the rag-tail and the bob-tail; — (tiic) — of the ab'lishonists — 
that's what I — (hic)-r-what I tell yer, and by G — d, I know 
it !" 

As Bennett halted for breath, the boys cried out, ^^ Go it, 
Bennett ; that's the way to talk !" <^ You're one of the ora- 
tors — you are !" ^^ Have a little more whiskey, Bennett !" 
^^ Why don't you pitch into the governor ?" 

" 1 tell yer," continued the speaker, ^^ Sherrard is — (hie) — so 
he is, by G — d, the soul of — (hie) — chiv'l'ry, and it's a pity he 
did'nt — (hie) — yes it is — for d — n Governor Geary — (hie) — . 
Them's my sentiments, and I don't kere a d — n who knows 
it!" 

Whilst the speaker was proceeding in this strain, a majority 
of the committee announced that they were ready to report. 



240 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

The minority had not agreed with them, bercause their resolu- 
tions did not directly denounce the violent conduct of Sher- 
rard and his abettors, and they were still engaged in prepar- 
ing resolutions for that purpose. The report of the majority 
was then read, as follows : 

'^ Believing, with the framers of the Constitution of our 
country, in ^ the freedom of speech and the right of the people 
peaceably to assemble' and express their opinions upon all 
subjects of interest to themselves, 

'^ We, the citizens of Lecompton and vicinity, without dis- 
tinction of party, in view of the recent personal assault upon 
our worthy executive, for an act done in his official capacity, 
and fully justified by all the circumstances, and necessary to 
preserve the peace of the territory and the rights of the people, 
in public meeeting assembled, do hereby 

" Resolve : That we express our unqualified approbation of 
Governor Geary's official action ; that to his impartial and vig- 
orous administration we are pleased to attribute the present 
peace and prosperity of the territory, and that we believe he 
has nofonly saved us from unfortunate and destructive domes- 
tic feuds, but has also preserved the Union from a bloody civil 
war. 

^' Resolved, That we cordially adopt, and will cheerfully 
maintain, the sterling principles proclaimed by Governor Gea- 
ry's message to the legislature, and that the following platform, 
extracted therefrom, is so admirably adapted to the present 
condition of Kansas, that we will maintain it at all hazards 
with our lives and property : — 

^^ ^ Equal and exact justice' to all men, of whatever political 
or religious persuasion; peace, comity and friendship with 
neighboring states and territories, with a sacred regard for 
state rights, and reverential respect for the integrity and per- 
petuity of the Union ; a reverence for the Federal Constitution 
as the concentrated wisdom of the fathers of the republic, and 
the very ark of our political safety ; the cultivation of a pure 
and energetic nationality, and the development of an excellent 
and intensely vital patriotism ; a jealous regard for the elective 
franchise, and the entire security and sanctity of the ballot- 
box ; a firm determination to adhere to the doctrines of self- 
government and popular sovereignty as guaranteed by the Or- 
ganic Law; unqualified submission to the will of the majority; 
the election of all officers by the people themselves ; the su- 



VIOLENT ASSAULT BY SHERRARD. 241 

premacy of the civil over the military power; strict economy in 
the public expenditures, with a rigid accountability of all public 
olhcers ; th« preservation of the public faith, and a currency 
based upon, and equal to, gold and silver; free and safe im- 
migration from every quarter of the country ; the cultivation 
of a proper territorial pride, with a firm determination to 
submit to no invasion of our sovereignty; the fostering care 
of agriculture, manufactures, mechanic arts, and all works of 
internal improvement; the liberal and free education of all the 
children of the territory ; entire religious freedom ; a free press, 
free speech, and the peaceable right to assemble and discuss 
all questions of public interest; trial by jurors impartially se- 
lected ; the sanctity of the Habeas Corpus ; the repeal of all 
laws inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States 
and the Organic Act, and the steady administration of the 
government so as best to secure the general welfare/ 

^^ Resolved, That we hereby tender Governor Geary, the 
people's friend, our earnest sympathy in the discharge of his 
responsible duties, and we pledge him the support of all the 
actual bona fide settlers of Kansas, without distinction of 
party, so long as he shall continue to administer the govern- 
ment upon the principles above declared. 

Jas. H. Legate, 
Jas. G. Bailey, 
W. Esley Garrett." 

No sooner were these resolutions read, than Sherrard sprang 
upon a pile of boards, and in a loud voice exclaimed : 

" Any man who will dare to endorse these resolutions, is a 
liar, a scoundrel, and a coward !" 

His manner was highly excited. He wore a large bowie- 
knife and two six-shooters in his belt, one of which had been 
borrowed by Maclean, for Sherrard' s use, of an Englishman, 
also employed in the surveyor-general's office. A Mr. Shep- 
pard,- living near Lecompton, and who stood in the midst of 
the crowd, quietly remarked : 

'' I endorse them, and am neither a liar, a scoundrel, nor a, 
coward !" 

Whereupon Sherrard drew a revolver, and fired all the loads 
as rapidly as he could pull the trigger, aiming at Sheppard, 
thou2:h endanorerins: the lives of others. Three balls took 
efi'ect on Sheppard, and a fourth slightly wounded another per- 
son. As soon as Sherrard commenced firing, Sheppard pulled 
21 Q 



242 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

off his gloves, and attempted to return the shots ; but his capfe 
being wet, burst without discharging the loads ; and seeing that 
Sherrard was about to draw his other pistol, he clubbed his re- 
volver, rushed toward Sherrard and struck at him with the butt, 
Sherrard not having an opportunity to fire, returning his 
blows in a similar manner. They were separated, and Shep- 
pard was removed, se^3rely, and it was then supposed, mor- 
tally wounded. Whilst Sherrard was firing, some dozen or 
more shots were fired by other parties, none of which seem to 
have taken effect. 

Shakspeare relieved the heaviness of his tragedies by the 
introduction of comic scenes ; and this tragedy in real life was 
not without its laughable incidents. Bennett, who was one of 
the chief instigators of the mischief, and the loudest of all 
who boasted to break up the meeting, no sooner heard a pistol 
fired, than he was galvanized from a death of drunkenness to 
a life of sobriety. There are numerous instances on record 
where men have died of fright, but none where fear has 
brought the dead to life again. Bennett did not stop to see 
the effect of the firing; but, upon the principle of ^^self- 
preservation,'' he immediately took to his heels; and never 
did a pedestrian make better time. His speed was that of a 
greyhound; his coat-tail standing out behind, scarcely able to 
keep up with the wearer ; and his path was as straight as the 
flight of an arrow; nor did he stop to take breath, as his 
workmen averred, until he had safely ensconsed himself be- 
hind an iron press, in his printing office, at the extreme end 
of the town. He did not make his appearance again until a 
few days afterwards he issued a circular for foreign use, which 
was so grossly false in all its statements, that its circulation 
was suppressed among the people who were actually cognisant 
of the facts. A company of Mississippians, who were quar- 
tered near by, also ran awa}-, to procure their rifles, as they 
said, but very prudently neglected to return to the scene of 
disturbance. 

Another amusing circumstance occurred during these se- 
*rious disturbances. An old man, over seventy years of age, 
named Thomas W. Porterfield, was among the crowd. He 
was one of the prisoners taken at Hickory Point, but had been 
discharged. Seeing Sheriff Jones with a pistol in his hand, 
old Porterfield deliberately took off his spectacles, and pulling 
out his pocket handkerchief, wiped them carefully and again 
adjusted them, He then drew a navy revolver, and having 



SHOOTING AND DEATH OF SHERRARD. 243 

examined tlie caps, placed the barrel upon his left arm, and 
t<)ok precise aim at Sheriff Jones, waiting for him to give the 
first sliot. As the sheriff moved about, the old man steadily 
eyed him, keeping his pistol all the time properly aimed. Not- 
withstanding his advanced age, Porterfield is said to be a dead 
shot, and it is probable that Sheriff Jones was never in so great 
danger of being hurried into eternity as at that moment. Had 
he fired his pistol, a bullet from that of the old man would 
have sent him to his last account. 

No sooner was Sheppard taken off than Sherrard seized his 
other pistol and advanced, with finger on the trigger^ toward 
John A. W. Jones, the young man whom he had assaulted a 
few days before, when Jones, perceiving his danger, also 
drt^w. Several shots were then simultaneously fired, and Sher- 
rard fell, mortally wounded. One ball had struck him in the 
forehead, penetrating the brain, and another had grazed his 
side. Who fired the fatal shot, it would be impossible to de- 
termine with certainty, though Jones was accused by the 
friends of Sherrard, and immediately secured by Sheriff Jones, 
who had taken an active part in the disturbance, who went 
there with that avowed purpose, accompanied by Sherrard, and 
who is alleged to have fired his pistol. A hue and cry was 
raised to hang young Jones ; but his friends were too nume- 
rous, and an attempt to have done so would have been attend- 
ed with rather serious consequences. 

The fall of Sherrard put an end to the riot. The rioters 
had lost their leader, and there was no one left among them 
sufficiently bold and desperate to take his place ; and to this 
fact may be attributed the defeat of a well-contrived scheme 
to again involve the entire community in a destructive strife. 
This matter had long been in agitation, and Sherrard was the 
chosen instrument to accomplish the mi;:;ehievous purpose. His 
fall put an end to the plot, and saved many a valuable life. 
He died early on the following Saturday morning, and his 
remains were removed to Winchester, Ya., the residence of 
his father, who is reputed a highly respectable gentleman. 
His son, naturally of uncontrollable temper, unfortunately fell 
into bad hands, and was the victim of evil advisers, who, after 
his death, were among the first to screen themselves from 
censure by accusing him of insane impetuosity. 

Deputy-Marshal Samuel Cramer busied himself running 
among the groggeries, vaporing that he intended to shoot the 
young assassin Jones, at sight; and five hundred dollars re- 



244 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

ward was offered by other parties to any person who should 
kill him. But neither Cramer nor any other person in Le- 
compton was willing to hazard so dangerous an undertaking. 
Jones was truly in the hands of his enemies; but he was sur- 
rounded by friends sufficiently numerous to guard him against 
personal harm. He appeared before Judge Cato, for a hear- 
ing on the charge of shooting Sherrard, who pronounced a 
decision against him in insulting terms, before the first witness 
had spoken a hundred words. Jones, perceiving that justice 
in Lecompton was blind, and that his life there was in jeopardy, 
entered bail in the sum of five thousand dollars, crossed the 
river, procured a guide and a mule, passed up through the 
northern portion of the territory into Nebraska, and safely 
reached his home in Pennsylvania. In the mean time, a party, 
supposing he would take the river route, proceeded to Kansas 
City, to intercept, seize and massacre him; but, being foiled 
in not finding their intended victim, returned with no little 
chagrin to Lecompton. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

How the pro-slavery leaders in Lecompton held large and enthusiastic 
town meetings — Incendiary meeting at Lecompton — Calhoun's speech 
and sentiments — The Kansas laws not created to punish pro-slavery 
criminals. 

Two or three evenings after the occurrences just related, 
Maclean, Bennett, and several others, met together in the 
house of Sheriff Jones, and concocted a series of resolutions, 
inflammatory in their character, and immensely laudatory of 
Sherrard, which were paraded before the public as having 
been adopted at a large and respectable meeting of the citizens 
of Lecompton. 

A similar meeting was held at Kansas City, by Cramer, 
Anderson, Crowder, and two or three others, who accompanied 
the body of Sherrard to that place, the proceedings of which, 
being almost a copy of those published at Lecompton, were 
inserted in the Kansas City newspaper, as having taken place at 
u large meeting of the citizens, not over a half-dozen of whom 
were present, and they only from idle curiosity. These meetings, 
or pretended meetings, were intended to create an excitement 



m 



THE WAY TOWN MEETINGS WERE HELD. 245 

among pro-slavery people against Governor G-earj, and to 
induce southern men who did not understand the modus 
operandi^ to furnish funds for the support of certain interested 
parties, whose advocacy of slavery was simply a matter of 
personal interest. They, however, entirely failed of the desired 
effect, and as soon as it was discovered that no capital could be 
made out of his death, Mr. Sherrard's body was conveyed to 
his home, and his pretended friends ascertained that he had 
always been exceedingly rash and imprudent. 

This plan of holding meetings was a favorite manoeuvre of 
the little clique of pro-slavery agitators at the capital. They 
numbered not over a dozen, in all. Whenever they had any 
mischievous object to accomplish, o.r desired to produce an 
impression in favor of their cause at Washington or in the 
south, or when they were in need of contributions of money, 
they would hold a meeting, generally in the office of the 
surveyor-general, who was the commander-in-chief of these 
little innocent political schemes and operations. General 
Clarke was always an active participant. Sheriff Jones's 
presence was indispensable. Judge Cato belonged to the 
coterie, though his name, for prudential reasons, did not often 
appear. Maclean furnished the liquor and tobacco, and did 
the small work. Bennett and Jones, of the Unioiij filled up 
important gaps. This brilliant party having got together, 
pipes and whiskey were supplied, and the affairs of the nation 
solemnly discussed. The '' impartial policy'^ of Governor Geary 
was a general subject for denunciation. The magnificence of 
the slavery cause was the grand matter for consideration — the 
means to rid the country of the abolitionists, the principal 
object of the deliberations. The best method of obtaining 
liberal supplies from the south, was usually discus&ed. These 
meetings wound up, after the production of a grandiloquent 
preamble and flaming resolutions, which graced the columns 
of the next issue of the Lecompton Union^ with the announce- 
ment that at a large meeting of the citizens of Lecomp- 
ton AND Douglas county, held on such an evening, 
the following resolutions were unanhnously adopted with great 
enthusiasm. Gen^ls Calhoun and Clarke addressed the 
'meeting loith their usual eloquence and power, &c., &c.; and 
yet, notwithstanding all this flourish of trumpets and beating 
of drums, the citizens of Lecompton were as innocent of the 
existence of any such meetings, until their proceedings were 



246 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

thus published, as were the inhabitants of Greenland or the 
6outh pole. 

But there was one meeting held at Lecompton,. of which 
the citizens were cognisant. It was called at the instance of 
General Calhoun, and for the express purpose of denouncing 
Governor Geary. The occasion* was the re-arrest of the 
murderer Hays. The friends of the governor, though a 
hundred fold more numerous than the agitators, did not go to 
this meeting with knives, pistols and guns, to break it up. 
Nay, the most respectable portion of the citizens stayed away, 
refusing to give it the sanction of their presence. Judge Cato 
did not even call upon the governor with the information that 
an incendiary gathering was to take place, and urge the 
interposition of his authority to prevent it. No ! this was a 
meeting to denounce, not approve, the policy and action of his 
excellency; and hence it was right, lawful, just and proper 
that it should be held, and he would have been a despot of 
the vilest sort, had he attempted in any way to interfere. 
Some impetuous friends of the governor, indignant at the 
outrages that were being committed, under the pretence of 
^Maw and order,'^ did, it is true, call upon him and solicit 
permission to throw the Lecompton Union into the river, and 
drive Calhoun and his band of conspirators from the town ; 
but they were severely rebuked, and commanded to preserve 
the peace. 

The meeting was held at Brooke's Hotel. The fire-eaters 
were there in their glory. The assembly consisted of a dozen 
or more of these and the attaches of the surveyor-general's 
office. Calhoun was the spokesman of the day, and was in a 
happy vein. His sentiments were plainly told. There was 
no attempt at disguise. The ''impartial'' policy of the 
governor was denounced in unmeasured terms. It was never 
intended that free-state and pro-slavery men should be placed 
upon an equality in Kansas. The laws of the legislative 
assembly were not for the punishment of the pro-slavery party. 
The governor had made a mistake in supposing that there was 
an act upon the statute-book that made it criminal for one of 
that party to rob a free-state man of his horse, or shoot him 
down in cold blood, if he refused freely to give it up upon 
demand. Hays had committed no offence in killing Buffum ; 
Lecompte was deserving of their gratitude in setting him free; 
and Geary of eternal condemnation in persisting in punishing 
him^ and charging other pro-slavery men^ who had simply 



SURVEYOR-GENERAL CALHOUN. 247 

tal^en the goods and lives of abolitionists, witli crime. Such 
was the tenor of the surveyor-general's remarks ; such the infa- 
mous doctrines which he boldl}' and unblushingly advocated. 

Should any doubt the truth of this, they have only to read 
the following report of this very speech, published in the 
Lccompton Union of November 20, I806. This paper is 
under the immediate control of Calhoun and his associates. 
Nothing finds a place in its columns that does not meet his 
sanction and approbation. Such of its articles as are not 
written by the chiefs of his department, receive at least their 
supervision. This report, therefore, if not from the pen of 
Calhoun himself, was from one that he every way approved. 
Let it be observed that in defending the outrages of the 
pro-slavery scoundrels, it is done on the ground that they were 
committed against bad men, incendiaries, and traitors ] and 
let it also be observed, that in this category he classes all 
free-state men, even though as free from crime as the Saviour 
of the world. His special reasoning on that score will be 
understood at a glance by every intelligent reader. Observe, 
now, what the Lecompton Union says of its paragon : 

^^ GENERAL CALHOUN. 

'^ To the northern men who, with a devotion amounting to 
heroism, have bared their breasts and received the blows aimed 
at the freedom of the south, state equality, and consequently 
the perpetuity of the Union, are the people of this Union in- 
debted more than any others. To this class belongs General 
John Calhoun, surveyor-general of Kansas. Born and raised 
in the north, his sympathies are all icith the south, and he is 
to-day stronger on the slavery question than one-half of those 
born and raised in the south; and we say this, too, without 
doubtinor their devotion to the clime of their birth, or for 
want of confidence in their will to defend us when necessary 
against any enemy. 

'^ He belongs to the Douglas school of politicians, the men 
upon whose shoulders the weight of the Union has fallen. 
Bold in thought, — untiring in action, and sound in principle, 
such men are governed by principle, not motive. There is an 
under-covering of common honesty in their composition that 
defies the corrupting influences of brain-sick abolitionism. 
Neither gold, the glittering prize that dazzles the ambitious 
eye, the fear of scorn and contumacy, can tempt them from 
the strict line of duty; but planted upon the rock of principle, 



248 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

tliey resist the seductive influences of the one and defy the 
stings of the other. 

^^ To such men^ more especially, are the people of Kansas 
indebted for their firm and unwavering support, under circum- 
stances of a peculiarly trying nature. These thoughts occurred 
to us after listening to the very excellent remarks of General 
Calhoun on last Saturday evening. We will give the substance 
of one or two points made by him on the occasion : — 

^^ In the first place, he exposed the injustice and fallacy of 
the policy that is being carried out by the territorial magnates, 
under the 'plausible pretext of doing justice to all parties — 
the levelling idea that has, since the advent of the last guherna- 
iorial constellation^ loomed up in our political sky — recognising 
no diiference between the good and the bad, but placing upon a 
common footing the sustainers of the laws and its violators. 

^^ Under the workings of this new policy, some of the best 
and most laio-abiding citizens of the territory, [viz. : Hays, 
the murderer of Buffum; Clarke, the assassin of Barber; 
Emory, who killed Phillips, and many others of that class,] 
have been dragged before the inquisitorial court — ^spotted 
and stained^ with indictments, and made to undergo all the 
vexations and delays of a legal investigation, to vindicate his 
honor. If he shoot down the incendiary when in the act of 
applying the torch to his house — or if he jumps upon the back 
of the first horse that comes within reach^ or ' presses' him 
for the purpose of vindicating the laws of the country when 
trampled under foot, must he be placed on an equal footing 
with the wretch who applies the torch, and with the traitor 
who breaks the law, and be branded as a murderer and common 
horse thief r^ 

This language is used in defence of men who murdered 
others simply to rob them of their property, and even stole 
horses from women and children, not to pursue violators 
of the law, but to carry them for sale into the adjoining 
state. Such men, according to the logic of the speaker, were 
not to be placed on an equality with those whom they robbed 
and murdered. But the general exposes himself as he pro- 
ceeds. It was the policy of his party to claim the character 
of innocence — of justification by circumstances oi their un- 
heard-of atrocities, — of their numerous robberies, house-burn- 
ingSj and murders. This could not be done, if legcd investi- 
gations vjere had, and the damning facts be brought out before 



SPEECH or GENERAL CALHOUN. 249 

a court of law. Their crimes exposed, they could not expect 
a continuance of the support and encouragement they were 
receiving from honest, though deceived persons at a distance. 
Hence the opposition to Governor Geary, who could not be- 
lieve that a murderer was less a murderer because he claimed 
to belong to a certain party, or that he should be left on that 
account to run at large unwhipped of justice, or beyond the 
exercise of the law. The general continues : — 

'' Is it sufficient to inquire whether such and such an act 
was done without inquiring into the causes that led to its 
commission ? What will be the effect of such policy upon our 
party here if persisted in? It will degrade us at home and 
disgrace us abroad, and it will force us to either one of two 
extremes, to abandon a country that punishes for sustaining 
its laws, and defending our lives and property when threatened, 
or we must make up our minds to submit to every humiliation 
and degradation that can be heaped upon us. What will our 
friends at Washington or the States who have fought our 
battles, say, when they hear of this ? It will take from them 
the only weapon that they have used in our defence — our 
innocence — and place in the hands of our enemies a powerful 
lever to be used against iis — our guilt J^ 

The general appears to have been nervously sensitive on this 
score. He seems to have been fully aware that their cause 
would be seriously injured, even in the south, if the truth 
should, by any chance, happen to get abroad through honest 
legal investigations. In that case their pretended innocence 
would no longer avail them. x\nd hence, their greatest scoun- 
drels must be screened and protected, and though their hands 
with blood were as red as scarlet, they must be made to appear 
as white as snow. It one of these wretches stole a horse, it 
was only from a seditious abolitionist, and to be used in the 
public service; if he robbed a house and then burned it to the 
ground, it was to drive out some rebel who had taken refuge 
there; and if he murdered an unarmed and defenceless man 
upon the highway or whilst sleeping in his bed, it was in self- 
defence. This ground must be assumed and maintained, else 
their cause must fall; and to maintain it, their worst criminals 
must be kept out of the courts, else destructive secrets would 
necessarily be revealed. Besides, the Blue Lodges required 
them to protect each other, and that was another weighty con- 
sideration. The general's speech grows richer as he proceeds: 



250 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

^^The question is, shall we sustain our friends, who, in obedi- 
ence to the proclamation of Acting-j^overnor Woodson, took up 
arms in defence of the laws, against a set of Mogs, scoundrels, 
and traitors,^ who came into the country, not with the intention 
of supporting the laws, but armed and equipped for fight — 
traitors at heart, with the treasonable design of overthrowing 
the laws and trampling them under foot, or shall we surrender 
them to the mercy of such a miserable policy as is being car- 
ried out at present, OR sustain them to the last ? 

^^ Our position is, that the law and order party is in the right, 
or it is'in the wrong — if the first, it should be sustained; if the 
last, condemned. We say it is the only true, upright, constitu- 
tional party in the country; there maybe individual exceptions; 
we are not bound by their acts, nor do we approve of them. 

^^ The idea of appeasing the insatiable gluttony of abolition 
rage and fanaticism by harassing and plastering with indict- 
ments the law and order men, under the pretence of ^impartial 
justice,' savors of lunacy. If one-half of the law and order 
men in the country should be swung up by the neck on to- 
morrow, the sacrifice would not in the least abate their hellish 
desire, but like the horse leech, they would cry give, until the 
life of every man that opposed them was off'ered up. They 
came into the country to disturb its peace, to break its laws, 
to kill, burn and plunder — outlaws and traitors, they deserv^e 
the traitor's fate.'' 

This article indicates the character of the pro-slavery party 
of Kansas, and explains clearly some of the seeming mysteries 
in the history of the territory. A brutal murder had been 
committed. In the annals of crime, there is not one recorded 
of a more diabolical character. A poor cripple is killed in 
cold blood by a human monster, simply to steal his horses. 
With his hands still reeking with the blood of his inoffensive 
victim, the assassin also robs a young girl of her pet pony; 
and then, with his booty, joins his ^^ law and order" comrades. 
The governor, with great difficulty and expense, causes the 
criminal to be arrested. A partial judge sets him free — and 
an impartial governor causes his re-arrest. A public meet- 
ing is called in consequence, by men holding prominent offices 
under the general government, to denounce the governor as a 
lunatic, for attempting to carry out the policy of '^impartial 
justice J ^ The surveyor-general of the territory tells the people 
the laws were not made to condemn the '' law and order " party 



IMPARTIAL POLICY DENOUNCED. 251 

for killing abolitionists. It was all right that hundreds of 
free-state men should be groaning and starving in a loathsome 
prison ; but it was an ofiFence to lay hands upon a '' law and 
order'' villain. This offence sealed the governor's doom. It 
was decreed that he should be removed. If the government 
could not be prevailed upon to dismiss him, and he could 
not be so harassed and embarrassed as to be forced to resign, 
then the hand of the assassin must do the work. And these 
advocates for murder, associates of murderers, and murderers 
themselves, succeeded. They did not simply denounce the 
*^ impartial policy,'' as they called it, of Governor Geary; but 
they determined that it should not prevail in Kansas. And 
hence Calhoun, and Clarke, and Emory, and Jack Thompson, 
hastened to Washington, and were admitted to the presence of 
President Buchanan j and introduced to the members of the 
cabinet, to all of whom they promised they would throw no 
obstacles in his way if a southern governor was sent to Kansas. 
And Mr. Buchanan was delighted with these assurances. They 
called on Mr. Robert J. Walker, and told him they would give 
him no trouble if he would be the governor. And Mr. Walker 
felt highly flattered. But they had thrown obstacles in the 
way of Governor Geary — they had given him trouble — they 
had annoyed and abused him to the full extent of their power — 
they had prevailed upon the authorities to remove from him all 
the means he had at command to preserve the peace and pro- 
tect himself — and then surrounded him with bands of assas- 
sins, ready to consummate, at the first favorable opportunity, 
their nefarious designs. And why? Because Governor Geary 
had conceived the fallacy of exercising ''impartial justice" — 
because he could not discriminate between murder committed 
by a man who added to the enormity of the crime the black 
falsehood that it was committed for the public good, and by 
one who made no such lying pretence — because, in a word, he 
was determined that the simple faci of being an advocate for 
slavery and assuming the name of ''law and order," should not 
screen the guilty wretch from merited punishment. And 
these men, who for this reason and none other, so foully per- 
secuted Governor Geary, have been rewarded with lucrative 
offices by the administration. Since the world was made, never 
were such responsible positions given, in any civilized nation 
on earth, to men so notoriously unworthy. 



252 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 



CHAPTER XL. 

Meeting of a pro-slavery convention at Lecompton. — Discussion between 
Hampton and Maclean. — Sheriff Jones endorsed. — Organization of the 
national democratic party of Kansas. — A novel platform. — The national 
administration favors the pro-slavery movements in Kansas. — Analysis 
of the cabinet. — Governor Geary offered the United States senatorship. 
— Calhoun*s address to the people of the United States. — Misrepresenta- 
tions of its author exposed. 

A CALL having apppeared in the Squatter Sovereign for 
the meeting of a convention, a body, in answer thereto, assem- 
bled at Lecompton on the same day that the Legislature was 
organized. The objects of the convention had been left for 
the imagination of the delegates., for they had never been pub- 
licly stated or defined. They were not destined, however, to 
remain long in ignorance on that particular point; for when 
two free-state delegates presented credentials, they were given 
clearly to understand that their presence and services were not 
required. The first question discussed regarded the name by 
which the convention should be called. A proposition to de- 
nominate it the ^^ Law and Order Convention ^^ was overruled 
by the opposition of Doctor Stringfellow, who pronounced the 
assembly a pro-slaveri/ convocation, and ofi*ered a resolution, 
which was almost unanimously carried, denying a seat in the 
meetings to any man who was not absolutely known to be in 
favor of making Kansas a slave state. 

The passage of this resolution brought Maclean to his feet, 
who, in a speech of some length, delivered in a most excited 
manner, declared that Captain L. J. Hampton, who claimed 
to be a delegate from Jefferson county, had no business in that 
convention, as his kind treatment, in the capacity of master 
•of convicts, to the free-state prisoners, was quite sufficient 
proof that he was not a sound pro-slavery man. 

To this Hampton replied, with much earnestness and elo- 
quence, declaring that he was a Kentuckian, and had always 
maintained the local institutions of his native state, and affirm- 
ing that he was decidedly in favor of slavery extension. 

Maclean retorted, and was even more violent than before : 
'' I don't care what Captain Hampton says. His conduct to 
the prisoners has been such as no pro-slavery man can sane- 



NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF KANSAS. 253 

tion ; and my friend over there, Samuel J. Jones, tlie sheriff 
of Douglas county, the master spirit of our party, who has 
fought, suffered and bled for our cause, who is a living monu- 
ment of the nobility of the human soul, and whose word is the 
soul of honor, says that Captain Hampton is not sound ; and 
shall we take Captain Hampton^ s word in preference to that 
of Sheriff Jones ? Have we not tried Samuel J. Jones ? And 
who will say that he was ever found wanting ? No ! it is our 
duty, as pro-slavery men, to believe Sheriff Jones's word in 
preference to Captain Hampton's oath ; to do, without hesita- 
tion, all that Sheriff Jones wishes us to do, no matter what 
that may be ; and as Sheriff Jones desires the exclusion from 
this convention of Captain Hampton, I hope that no member 
here will be so vile a traitor to our cause as to hesitate one 
moment to vote for his expulsion !" 

During these remarks, which were constantly interrupted 
with enthusiastic applause, the sheriff, it being late in the 
evening, was in no mood for speech-making ; but sat near his 
friend Maclean, almost unconscious of the extravagant lauda- 
tions of which he was the subject, and nodding over the pipe 
that he held in his mouth, from which an occasional puff of 
smoke would ascend. Hampton's case was finally referred to 
a committee, who reported him ^^ sound on the goose,^' and he 
was admitted as a member of the convention. But here ano- 
ther difficulty arose. A vote had hastily been passed inviting 
all the members of the Legislature to participate in the busi- 
ness of the convention, and it was discovered that two of the 
members were free-state men. After a spirited debate on the 
question of their admission, it was decided that they were not 
included in the general invitation. Nothing more was done 
the first evening than organize the body, and appoint the pro- 
per committees. 

On the following day, the convention met in committee of 
the whole, when, to the astonishment of many of the dele- 
gates, a proposition was made by Doctor Stringfellow, who 
had never pretended to be a Democrat, to call themselves 
^' The National Democratic Party of Kansas Territory.*' 
There was some little squirming and twisting when this pro- 
position was made; for it appeared that a majority of the dele- 
gates claimed to be old-line Whigs; but when the objects were 
explained, all scruples were removed, and the name was adopt- 
ed. It was stated that Governor Geary must by some means 
be disposed of: his continuance in Kansas was an injury to 
22 



254 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

the pro-slavery cause. An issue must be raised between him 
and Lecompte; one or the other must fall; and Lecompte 
could not, under any circumstances, be spared. The question 
was under consideration at Washington. A protest against 
Lecompte's removal, and in favor of Geary's, must be sent to 
the national democratic administration ; that administration 
could not with propriety pay much attention to anything ema- 
nating from a body contending for no other principle than the 
introduction of slavery into the territory; but it would be 
compelled to regard with favor whatever came to them from 
the '^ National Democratic Party of Kansas." Besides, it 
was argued that ^^a rose by any other name would smell as 
sweet,'' and by calling himself a Democrat, for the purpose 
of gaining an important point, no man was compelled to em- 
brace democratic doctrines. He might still entertain whatever 
sentiments he thought proper. It was thought best, never- 
theless, to secure the desired object, to adopt the Cincinnati 
platform — reserving to themselves the privilege of engrafting 
thereon their one idea of slavery in Kansas. 

This was a strange procedure, and one which shows an utter 
disregard of moral principle, when it is understood that these 
very men, at the last session of the Legislature, as will be seen 
by reference to their published journal, passed the following : 

^^ Mr. Speaker Stringfellow, Mr. Anderson in the chair, 
offered the following concurrent resolution : — 

'' Whereas, The signs of the times indicate that a measure 
is now on foot fraught with more danger to the interests of the 
pro-slavery party, and to the Union, than any which has yet 
been agitated, to wit : the proposition to organize a national 
democratic party ; and 

'^ Whereas, Some of our friends have already been misled 
by it ; and 

'^ Whereas, The result will be to divide pro-slavery Whigs 
from Democrats, thus weakening our party one-half; and 

'' Whereas, We believe that on the success of our party 
depends the perpetuity of the Union ; Therefore, 

'' Be it resolved J By the House of Bepresentatives, the 
Council concurring therein, that it is the duty of the pro- 
slavery party, the union-loving men of Kansas Territory, to 
know but one issue, slavery, and that any party making or 
attempting to make any other, is and should be held, as 

AN ALLY OF ABOLITIONISM AND DISUNIONISM. 



PRESIDENT Buchanan's policy. 255 

^^ Whicli was read a first time, and the rnle suspended, and 
the resolution read a second time, and agreed to/' 

Such is the platform of the men, who at last, for sinister 
motives, styled themselves the '^ National Democracy of Kan- 
sas/^ They were to know but one issue — that issue, slavery! 
or else be held as ^^ allies of abolitionism and disunionism/' 
In carrying out this principle, all the free-state Democrats of 
Kansas were excluded from membership with the '' National 
Democracy ^^ not one of them being received into fellowship, 
or in any manner allowed to take part in its proceedings. 

But, it may be asked, is this sort of Democracy acknow- 
ledged^ and endorsed by the administration at Washington ? 
Yes ! Mr. Buchanan has carried it out to the full measure of 
perfection. As far as he has had the power, he has ostracised 
all free-state Democrats, no matter how long or how faithfully 
they have served himself and their party. The most, if not 
all, of his appointments have been made with especial refer- 
ence to the slavery question; and the pleasure of the southern 
wing of the Democracy. Without an exception, the Kansas 
appointments were well known pro-slavery men, and they of 
the fiercest character. 

The same rule was rigidly observed in selecting the mem- 
bers of the cabinet. It would be an insult to the sagacity of 
the president to suppose that this was purely accidental, or 
that he had been blindfolded by his political advisers. The 
northern Democrats have been deluded with the pretence that 
a strict impartiality had been observed in this regard, and that 
an equal distribution of the cabinet offices had been made 
among parties favorable to northern and southern interests j 
than which nothing can be farther from the truth. So far as 
the settlement of the question of slavery in Kansas is con- 
cerned, the cabinet officers, who have any great influence in 
relation to it, are all on one side. True, there are three north- 
ern men in the cabinet, which, with Mr. Buchanan, comprise 
one-half the number. Two of these, however, are avowed 
pro-slavery men, and the other a large owner of property in a 
slave state. But even were this otherwise, neither of these 
gentlemen's positions give them any peculiar control over the 
affairs of Kansas Territory. 

General Lewis Cass, of Michigan, the Secretary of State, 
has no appointments to make nor patronage to bestow, in the 
territory; and is very little else, so far as its interests are con- 
cerned than a medium of communication between ihe Gover- 



256 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

nor of Kansas and tlie President of the United States. The 
Attorney General, Jeremiah S. Black, of Pennsylvania, simply 
occupies the position of legal adviser; whilst Mr. Isaac Toucey, 
of Connecticut, the Secretary of the Navy, has nothing what- 
ever to do with Kansas. 

How is it with the other members of Mr. Buchanan* s cabi- 
net ? These are all southern men, and have the entire man- 
agement of Kansas affairs. 

The Postmaster General, Mr. Aaron V. Brown, of Ten- 
nessee, has the appointment of all the postmasters, mail- 
agents, mail-carriers, etc., and can bestow his immense patron- 
age upon whom he pleases ; and so well has he begun, that 
the only free-state post-master in the territory, Mr. C. W. 
Babcock, of Lawrence, who is a gentleman of unimpeachable 
integrity, and whose sound democracy has never been ques- 
tioned, has been removed to make room for a member of the 
pro-slavery party. 

Mr. Howell Cobb, of Georgia, the Secretary of the Trea- 
sury, has charge of the national purse, and can exercise con- 
siderable influence in supplying or withholding funds for terri- 
torial uses. 

The Secretary of War, Mr. John B. Floyd, of Virginia, 
has the management of the army, and may send to Kansas 
officers to command the troops, of his own political complex- 
ion, and can, at his pleasure, deny or allow the governor the 
employment of the United States forces. 

And last, though not the least, comes Mr. Jacob Thompson, 
of Mississippi, the Secretary of the Interior. This is the 
most important of all the cabinet officers, as regards the in- 
terests of Kansas Territory. He can control the appointment 
of numerous Indian agents, surveyors, etc., amounting to some 
hundreds of persons, through whom about three millions of 
dollars are annually disbursed. His influence, therefore, for 
good or evil, in Kansas, is almost unbounded. That he in- 
tends to employ it in favor of the pro-slaveiy party, is evi- 
denced in the fact, that one of the first acts of the new admin- 
istration was the removal, at the instance of George W. 
Clarke, of Col. Winston, of Virginia, who had been appointed 
to succeed Clarke, as agent for the Potawattomie Indians, and 
against whom there could be no other charge than that, for a 
southerner, he was too conservative in his views to be of ser- 
vice to the pro-slavery cause. Winston was superseded by 
William E. Murphy, who had distinguished himself for his op- 



ADDRESS OF THE NATIONAL DEMOCRACY. 257 

position to the free-state men of Leavenworth City, arid who, 
after the latter had been driven away by violence, was fraudu- 
lently elected mayor of that city. 

What will northern Democrats think of this analysis? Alas! 
what have northern free-state Democrats to do with the pre- 
sent national Democracy ? That Democracy is emphatically 
the pro-slavery party of the country ! Mr. Buchanan's admin- 
istration has adopted the platform of that party, which is, to 
know but one issue — and that issue, slavery 1 

The machinery set in motion by the leading actors of the 
^' National Democratic Party of Kansas/' did not work so well 
as was anticipated. The people understood the trickery, and 
would not come into the proposed measures. Hence there 
was considerable discouragement, and a new course of policy 
was attempted. It was suggested that it would be a capital 
idea to induce the governor to give his sanction to the move- 
ment. Accordingly, a meeting was called to ratify the pro- 
ceedings of the convention, and Governor Geary was for- 
mally visited by J. D. Henderson, chairman of the central 
committee, with the assurance, that if he would attend the 
meeting and identify himself with the party, he should be 
one of the two United States senators soon to be elected, 
as the convention, in conjunction with the legislature, had 
plans on foot which could n6t fail of success in making Kansas 
a slave state. The governor reminded Henderson, that a cer- 
tain tempter once took his master to the '' top of a high moun- 
tain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, saying, 
All these will I give unto you, if you will fall down and wor- 
ship me/' ^' Now,'' said his excellency, ^' the devil had as many 
kingdoms to give as you have senatorial honors to bestow, or 
ever will have, by honest means. I despise your promises of 
reward as much as I did your infamous threats of injury. If 
you approach me again with such vile offers of bribery, I will 
be tempted to toss you through the window." The ratifica- 
tion meeting was held ; about a dozen persons were present ; 
A. W. Jones endeavored to make a speech; and after passing 
a resolution endorsing the abuses of the Union, of which he 
was editor, adjourned, the whole affair proving a most ridicu- 
lous failure. 

Before its final adjournment, this '^National Democratic 

convention" appointed a committee to prepare an '' address to 

the people of the United States." This committee consisted 

of the following named persons, of whom, with few excep- 

22* R 



258 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

tions, the democrats of tlie United States have no great reason 
to be proud : 

John Calhoun, chairman ; George W. Clarke, John W. 
Foreman, J. Kuykendall, John H. Stringfellow, A. B. Haz- 
zard, John R. Boyd, E. Rauson, L. A. Maclean, H. B. Har- 
ris, A. Coffey, John Donaldson, B. J. Newsome, J. T. Here- 
ford, J. C. Anderson, D. B. Atchison, Jeff. Buford, W. H. 
Tebbs, S. J. Jones, Hugh M. Moore, G. W. Perkins, A. J. 
Isacks. 

These names are published more especially for future ref- 
erence. The address was prepared by Surveyor Calhoun, and 
published in pamphlet form ; and it would be a difficult matter 
to find any other publication, of an equal number of pages, 
containing as many gross misrepresentations. A single exam- 
ple of the author's veracity may here be given. Speaking of 
the contemplated attack upon Lawrence, he assumes that it 
was the desire of the free-state men to have the town destroyed 
(and of course themselves, women and children massacred), 
for political effect, and adds : — 

'^ Lane, no doubt, abandoned the town for that purpose ; but 
he did not comprehend that his opponents were incapable of 
attacking where there was no chance of defence.'^ 

The truth is, they were neve?' known to attack where there 
was a chance for defence, or where the odds were not greatly 
in their favor. The address continues : — 

^^ General Heiskell's forces had the town completely within 
their power for two days before they turned back; but the 
leaders of those forces saw the game as clearly as the Black 
Republicans themselves, and determined to prevent its destruc- 
tion. To control the incensed mass of Heiskell's forces, who 
thought only of vengeance for outrages committed, the leaders 
sent to Lecompton for Governor Geary to come and disband 
their troops, so that they might be forced to return to their 
homes without entering Lawrence. This was done, and Law- 
rence saved by the sagacity of the leaders in Heiskell's camp." 

There is not the slightest shadow of truth in this state- 
ment. The leaders of Heiskell's forces never sent to Gov- 
ernor Geary to come and disband their troops. On the 
contrary, Maclean, Heiskell's adjutant and Calhoun's chief 
clerk, most heartily cursed what he called the interference of 
Governor Geary. The governor was studiously kept in igno- 
rance of the movement and intentions of these troops by 
HeiskelFs leaders, and only discovered the facts through his 



MISREPRESENTATIONS EXPOSED. 259 

owD secret agents and tlie applications of the citizens of Law- 
rence for protection. 

The official report of Adjutant-General Strickler, whom 
Governor Geary sent to disband Heiskell's forces, proves the 
falsity of General Calhoun's statement^ made for the unwor- 
thy purpose of taking from Governor Geary the credit of a 
great and noble act. General Strickler's report to the gov- 
ernor is dated September 17, 1856, in which he says : — 

^'In reply to your note of this date, I have the honor to 
report, that in pursuance of your instructions, I proceeded to 
the camp at Franklin, commanded by Brigadier-General Heis- 
kell, and made known to him your proclamation and orders 
for the disbandment of the Kansas militia, and requested him 
to publish such general orders as might be necessary to exe- 
cute your commands. 

"The excitement and confusion became so great in conse- 
quence of this intelligence that it was deemed advisable to 
request your presence; and I consider it fortunate for myself 
that you came to the camp ] for you must be convinced from 
what 3^ou saw during your stay of the utter impossibility to 
execute your commands/^ 

Thus it seems, by the official report, that instead of the leaders 
of Heiskell's forces sending for the governor to disband their 
troops, the adjutant-general of the territory was incapable of 
effecting that object, and found it necessary to send for the go- 
vernor himself; and it is well known that his presence alone 
saved the town of Lawrence from the rapine and destruction 
that had been contemplated. No wonder that General Calhoun 
and his party should now be ashamed of, and endeavor to deny, 
their complicity with this most dastardly and disgraceful in- 
tention. 

General Reid did not attempt to take from Governor Geary 
the credit of defeating the murderous intentions of his army — 
of saving Lawrence from destruction, and the country from a 
civil war, but frankly acknowledged the fact. Upon Eeid's 
return to Missouri, he was severely censured for not consum- 
mating the purpose of the invasion, when he found it necessary 
to defend his conduct through the medium of the press. In 
one of his lengthy communications published in the Occidental 
Messenger, Independence, Mo., of September 20th, 1856, he 
says : — 

"I have no regret that Governor Geary arrived when he 
did, and interposed between us and our purjpose, and relieved 



260 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

US from tlie necessity of doing extrajudicially, tliat which can be 
done so much more eflfectually and satisfactorily in the name 
and by the authority of the law — redressing the wrong of our 
fellow-citizens and restoring them to their rights in Kansas. 

"■ I have no doubt, with the men we had, of the result. I 
have no doubt we should have driven Lane and his band, and 
all confederate bands, from the soil of Kansas, but I am not 
prepared to say I would have preferred it so. I think it better 
for the peace of the country and for the good of all, that it 
should be as it is, and hence I then thought, and now think, 
the arrival of the new governor most opportune for ns, for 
Kansas, and for the whole country, in suspending the strife 
which had been forced upon us, in such a manner as regarding 
our honor and our rights we could not decline it, and which 
threatened to involve the whole country in a civil and sectional 
war.'' 



CHAPTER XLI. 

Passage of the census bill. — Governor Geary*s veto message. — The manner 
in which the census was taken. — Repeal of the test laws. — Adjournment 
of the Legislature. — Secretary Marcy and the Topeka Legislature. — 
Letter to the Secretary of State. — Arrest of a fugitive. — Rencontre at To- 
peka. — Complaint of prisoners. — Breaking up of the Kansas Rive» 

The crowning act of the legislature was the passage, near 
the close of its session, of what is called the '' Census Bill.'' 
This was the most infamous scheme to rob thousands of free- 
men of their right of the elective franchise, that has ever been 
devised in this or any other country. The bill was created 
with much care and cunning, by certain prominent United 
States senators at Washington, and sent to Lecompton, with 
orders for its adoption without alteration or amendment. 

It provides for the taking of a census, preparatory to an 
election to be held in June, 1857, for delegates to a conven- 
tion to frame a state constitution, to be presented to the next 
Congress for its approval. At the election no citizen is allowed 
to vote, who was not in the territory on or before the 15th 
of March. The census takers and judges of election are the 
sheriffs and other officers appointed by the pro-slavery party, 
and bound to its interests. 



THE CENSUS LAW. 261 

Agreeably to ttis regulation, the hundreds of free-state meu 
who had been forcibly driven from their claims and homes du- 
ring the past yearns disturbances, and who^ in consequence of 
the difficulty of travel, could not return until after the 15th 
of March, were disfranchised, as were also the thousands of 
emigrants that were expected to arrive after that period, and 
prior to the day fixed for the election. Whilst on the other 
hand, thousands of Missourians could simply cross the border 
into the territory, register their names as voters, and return to 
their homes to await the election. But even that trouble was 
at length considered unnecessary, for the sheriffs and census 
takers found it more convenient to carry their books into Mis- 
souri and there record their names. Although this was really 
done, the names of many of the most prominent and oldest 
free- state residents of the territory were never registered. 
Under the regulations of this bill the free-state people wisely 
concluded to take no part whatever in the election ; for it was 
a matter of certainty that there was no possibility of justice 
being done them, and their participation in the fraud in any 
way would only be to give it their sanction. Had they resolved 
to vote, and showed a majority of three to one, the judges 
would have had no difficulty in returning them in the minor- 
ity. The past history of the officials was a sufficient guarantee 
of what might be expected from their future conduct. To 
pretend that such men as Sheriff Jones would do anything like 
justice to the free-state residents, is simply an insult to the 
common sense of all who understand the history of the country. 
But even the possibility of the free-state people coming for- 
ward to vote, was guarded against by the insertion of a clause 
in the bill, intended for their intimidation, that the voting 
should be viva voce. Another feature of the bill is, that 
although it was framed expressly to defraud the free-state cit- 
izens of their rights, it requires them to pay a fax to assist 
in the accomplishment of the fraud. 

Upon ascertaining the nature of this act, Governor Geary, 
before its passage, sent for the chairmen of the committees of 
the two branches of the Legislature, General Coffey of the 
Council and Colonel Anderson of the House, and informed 
them that if they would consent to add a clause referring the 
constitution that might be formed by the convention to the 
citizens of the territory, for their sanction or rejection, before 
its being submitted to Congress, he would waive all other ob- 
jections, and give it his approval. The reply was, that that 



262 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

suggestion had already been fully considered and discussed, 
and could not be adopted, as it would defeat the only object 
of the actj which was to secure, beyond any possih Hit y of fail- 
ure, the territory of Kansas to the south as a slave state. Any 
alteration in the bill would be fatal to their projects. Even 
should they allow the spring immigration to take part in the 
election, their plans would be frustrated. This, they said, was 
their last hope, and they could not let the opportunity pass 
unimproved. They had already, in anticipation of the passage 
of the bill, so apportioned the territory, and made such other 
preliminary arrangements^ that the success of this grand pro- 
ject was placed beyond the reach of any contingency that 
might now occur. 

The bill was passed by both houses and sent to the governor 
for his signature, who returned it with the following ob- 
jections : — 

'' Gentlemen of the Council of Kansas Territory: 

^' After Mature consideration of the bill entitled ^ An Act 
to provide foi the -taking of a census, and election for dele- 
gates to convention,^ I am constrained to return the same 
without my approval. 

*^ Passing over other objections, I desire to call your serious 
attention to a material omission in the bill. 

^^ I refer to the fact that the Legislature has failed to make 
any provision to submit the constitution, when framed, to the 
consideration of the people, for their ratification or rejection. 

" The position that a convention can do no wrong, and ought 
to be invested with sovereign power, and that its constituents 
have no right to judge of its acts, is extraordinary and un- 
tenable. 

^' The history of state constitutions, with scarcely an excep- 
tion, will exhibit a uniform and sacred adherence to the salu- 
tary rule of popular ratification. 

^^ The practice of the federal and state governments, in the 
adoption of their respective constitutions, exhibiting the wis- 
dom of the past, will furnish us with a safe and reliable rule 
of action. 

'' The federal constitution was first proposed by a conven- 
tion of delegates from twelve states, assembled in Philadelphia. 
This coDstitution derived no authority from the first conven- 
tion. It was submitted to the various states, fully discussed 
In all its features, and concurred in by the people of the states 



VETO MESSAGE. 263 

in conventions assembled ; and that concurrence armed it with 
poAver and invested it with dignity. Article seventh of the 
constitution makes the ratification of nine states, three-fourths 
of the number represented in the convention^ essential to its 
adoption. 

'' In the adoption, not only of the federal constitution, but 
of nearly all the state constitutions, the popular ratification 
was made essential; and all amendments to those of most of 
the states are required to pass two legislatures, and then be 
submitted to the people for their approval. 

" In Kentucky, especially, all amendments to the constitu- 
tion must pass two legislatures, and for two years be submitted 
to the vote of the people, upon the question of convention or 
no convention^ on the specific amendments proposed. 

^^ Treaties made by ambassadors are not binding until duly 
ratified by their respective governments, whose agents they 
are. 

'' Members of the legislature or of conventions are but the 
agents of the people, who have an inherent right to judge of 
the acts of their agents, and to condemn or approve them, as 
in their deliberate judgment they may deem proper. 

'' The fundamental law of a commonwealth so inseparably 
connected with the happiness and prosperity of the citizens, 
cannot be too well discussed, and cannot pass through too 
many ordeals of popular scrutiny. 

^^ What delegates to conventions may do or what omit, can- 
not be known until they have assembled and developed their 
action. If the whole power be vested in them without re- 
course over to the people, there is no guarantee that the popu- 
lar wishes will be fairly and fully expressed. 

'^ Although the people may have voted for a convention to 
form a state constitution, yet they have by no just rule of con- 
struction voted away the usual and universal right of ratifi- 
cation. 

'^ Special instructions, covering every point arising in the 
formation of a constitution, cannot be given in the elections 
preliminary to a convention ; and it is, therefore, proper that 
the action of the convention, necessarily covering new ground, 
should be submitted to the people for their consideration. 

'^ The practical right of the people to ordain and establish 
governments is found in the expressive and beautiful pream- 
ble to the federal constitution — ' We the people,^ &c., ^do or- 
dain and establish this constitution.' • 



264 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

'^ Let the constitution of Kansas be ratified and established 
by the solemn vote of the people, surrounded by such safe- 
guards as will insure a fair and unbiassed expression of the 
actual bona fide citizens^ and it will remain inviolably fixed in 
the afi'ections of the people. 

'' In his report upon the Toombs bill, its distinguished aur 
thor thus logically enumerates the various steps in the forma- 
tion of a constitution : ^ the preliminary meetings ; the calling 
of the convention ; the appointment of delegates ; the assem- 
bling of the convention ; the formation of the constitution ; 
the voting on its ratification ; the election of officers under it.' 

^^ In the same report, the author most justly remarks : — 
^ Whenever a constitution shall be formed in any territory, 
preparatory to its admission into the Union as a state, justice, 
the genius of our institutions, the whole theory of our repub- 
lican system, imperatively demand that the voice of the people 
shall he fairly expressed^ and their will embodied in that fun- 
damental law, without fraud or violence, or intimidation, or 
any other improper or unlawful influence, and subject to no 
other restrictions than those imposed by the Constitution of 
the United States.' 

'^ The voice of the people fairly expressed, and its embodi- 
ment in the fundamental law, should be the earnest desire of 
every citizen of a republic. 

^^ But how can the voice of the people be fairly expressed, 
and their will be embodied in the organic law, unless that law, 
when made, be submitted to them to determine whether it is 
their will which the convention has proclaimed ? 

^^ The leading idea and fundamental principle of our organic 
act, as expressed in the law itself, was to leave the actual 
bona fide inhabitants of the territory ^perfectly free to form 
and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way.' 
The act confers almost unlimited power upon the people, and 
the only restriction imposed upon its exercise is the Constitu- 
tion of the United States. 

^' The great principle, then, upon which our free institutions 
rest, is the unqualified and absolute sovereignty of the peo- 
ple ; and constituting, as that principle does, the most positive 
and essential feature in the great charter of our liberties, so it 
is better calculated than any other to give elevation to our 
hopes and dignity to our actions. So long as the people feel 
that the power to alter the form or change the character of 
the government abides in them, so long will they be impressed 



VETO MESSAGE. 265 

witli that sense of security and of dignity whicli must ever 
spring from the consciousness that they hold within their own 
hands a remedy for every political evil — a corrective for every 
governmental abuse and usurpation. 

^^ ^This principle must be upheld and maintained^ at all haz- 
ards and at every sacrifice — maintained in all the power and 
fulness — in all the breadth and depth of its utmost capacity 
and signification. It is not sufficient that it be acknowledged 
as a mere abstraction, or theory, or doctrine ; but as a practi- 
cal, substantial, living reality, vital in every part/ 

^* The idea of surrendering the sovereignty of the territo- 
ries, the common property of the people of the several states, 
into the hands of the few who first chanced to wander into 
them, is, to me, a political novelty. Is it just that the terri- 
tories should exercise the rights of sovereign states until their 
condition and numbers become such as to entitle them to be 
admitted into the union on an equality with the original 
states ? 

^'In speaking of the proper construction of the Organic 
Act, its distinguished author rema^-ks : — ^ The act recognises 
the rights of the people thereof, while a territory, to form and 
regulate their own domestic institutions in their own way, 
subject only to the Constitution of the United States, and to 
be received into the union, as soon as they should attain the 
requisite numher of inhabitants, on an equal footing with the 
original states in all respects whatever.' 

"" In the report before alluded to, the author says : — ^ The 
point upon which your committee have entertained the most 
serious and grave doubts in regard to the propriety of endors- 
ing this proposition, relates to the fact that, in the absence of 
any census of the inhabitants, there is reason to apprehend 
that the territory does not contain sufficient population to en- 
title them to demand admission under the treaty with France, 
if we take the ratio of representation for a member of Con- 
gress as the rule.^ 

^' In accordance with the foregoing views, I remarked in 
my first message to your body, that ^the durability and imper- 
ative authority of a state constitution, when the interests of 
the people require a state government, and a direct popular 
vote is necessary to give it sanction and effect j will be the pro- 
per occasion, once for all, to decide the grave political ques- 
tions which underlie a well regulated commonwealth/ And 
in another portion of the same message, I said : — ' Justice to 
23 



266 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

the country and the dictates of sound policy, require that the 
legislature should confine itself to such subjects as will pre- - 
serve the basis of entire ec[uality ; and tvlien a sufficient popu- 
lation is here^ and they choose to adopt a state government, 
that they shall be '' perfectly free/^ without let or hindrance, 
to form all their domestic institutions in their own way, and to 
dictate that form of government, which, in their deliberate 
judgment, may be deemed proper/ 

^' The expressions, ^requisite number of inhabitants,' ^suf- 
ficieut population/ — and others, of similar import, can have 
no other meaning than that given them by our leading states- 
men, and by the common judgment of the country, to wit : — 
^ the ratio of representation for a member of Congress.' 

^' The present ratio for a member of Congress, is 93,420 in- 
habitants. What, then, is the present population of Kansas ; 
or what will it be on the 15th of March next ? as after that 
time, no person arriving in the territory can vote for a mem- 
ber of the convention under the provisions of this bill. 

'^ At the last October election, the whole vote polled for 
delegate to Congress, was^ four thousand two hundred and 
seventy-six; (4276;) while the vote in favor of a convention 
to frame a state constitution, was but two thousand six hun- 
dred and seventy. (2670.) 

^^ It is a well known fact, to every person at all conversant 
with the circumstances attending the last election, that the 
question of a state government entered but little into the can- 
vas, and the small vote polled for a convention is significantly 
indicative of the popular indifi^erence on the subject. 

^^ No one will claim that 2670 is a majority of the voters 
of this territory, though it is a majority of those voting, and 
it is conceded that those not voting are bound by the act of 
those who did. 

'^The bill under consideration seems to be drawn from the 
bill known as the Toombs Bill ; but in several respects it dif- 
fers from that bill, and in these particulars it does not furnish 
equal guarantees for fairness and impartiality. The former 
secured the appointment of five impartial commissioners to 
take and correct the census, to make a partial apportionment 
among the several counties, and generally to superintend all 
the preliminaries so as to secure a fair election, while by the 
present bill all these important duties are to be performed by 
probate judges and sheriffs, elected by and owing allegiance to 
a party. It differs in other important particulars. The bill 



VETO MESSAGE, 267 

of Mr. Toombs conferred valuable rights and privileges upon 
this territory, and provided means to pay the expenses of the 
convention ; while this bill does neither. 

^^ If we are disposed to avail ourselves of the wisdom of the 
past, we will pause some time before we throw off our territo- 
rial condition, under present circumstances, by the adoption 
of a state government. 

'^ The state of 31ichigan remained a territory for five years 
after she had the requisite population, and so with other 
states ; and when they were admitted, they were strong enough 
in all the elements of material wealth to be self-supporting. 
And hence they knocked at the door of the union with that 
manly confidence which spoke of equality and self-reliance. 

^' California was admitted under peculiar and extraordinary 
circumstances. Her rich mines of the precious metals at- 
tracted a teeming population to her shores, and her isolated 
position from the parent government, with her superabundant 
wealth, at once suggested the experiment of self-government ; 
and at the time of her state constitution, ratified by the vote 
of the people, the population of California entitled her to two 
representatives in Congress. 

^' I observe by the message of the governor of Minnesota, 
that the population of that thriving territory exceeds 180,000. 
The taxable property amounts to between thirty and thirty- 
five millions of dollars. And in view of these facts, and of 
the large increase of agricultural products, cash capital, etc., 
the governor favors a change from a territorial to a state 
government. To this end he suggests that a convention be 
called to form a constitution ^ that an act be passed for the 
taking of a census in April, and for such other preliminary 
steps as are necessary; and that if the constitution be ^ rati- 
Jied hy the people^ at the next October election, it shall be 
presented to Congress in December following. 

*^ These facts furnish an additional argument why the con- 
stitution should be submitted to the people, as the majority, 
preferring a territorial government, and thinking a state 
government premature, may desire to avail themselves of that 
opportunity to vote against any state constitution whatever. 

'' Burthened with heavy liabilities ] without titles to our 
lands; our public buildings unfinished; our jail and court- 
houses not erected ; without money even to pay the expenses 
of a convention ; and just emerging from the disastrous effects 
of a bitter civil feud ; it seems unwise for a few thousand peo- 



268 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

pie, scarcely sufficient to make a good county, to discard the 
protecting and fostering care of a government, ready to assist 
us with her treasures and to protect us with her armies. 

^^Jno. W. Geary, 
'' Governor of Kansas Territory. 
'^Lecompton, K. T., February 19, 1857.'' 

Notwithstanding these objections, the bill was adopted, 
without discussion, by an almost unanimous vote of both 
branches of the Assembly. The pro-slavery party were in rap- 
tures. They did not pretend to conceal their exultation. They 
freely boasted that they had now the advantage of their polit- 
ical adversaries, and that the question of slavery in Kansas 
was no longer a matter of uncertainty. So positive were they 
that the whole affair was entirely at their own disposal, and 
that the territory would soon become a slave state, that they 
went to work to select officers for its management, ridicul- 
ing any expression of doubt in regard to their success. 

The new secretary of the territory, Mr. Stanton, and also 
Governor Walker, have endeavored to convince the free-state 
people that it is the intention of the pro-slavery convention to 
submit the constitution they may frame, to the people of the 
territory for their ratification, previous to its being presented to 
Congress. If these gentlemen are sincere in the expression 
of this opinion, they have been most successfully blindfolded 
by the persons from whom they received their ideas of Kan- 
sas affairs before entering upon the duties of their mission. 
The very reverse of this was the avowed intention of the pro- 
slavery leaders. That the people should have no voice in the 
matter, was the object of their chief concern. Hence, none 
should vote save those who were registered as being in the 
territory prior to the 15th of March ; and hence the early 
election in June, and the putting off the meeting of the con- 
vention until September, that no time would be allowed to 
pass between the termination of their labors and the organi- 
zation of Congress. The principal operators in this scheme 
did not hesitate to aver that their only hope was in getting the 
constitution through Congress despite the wishes of the ma- 
jority of the inhabitants, which would not be the case should 
it be submitted to the popular vote. 

The fairness of their intentions may be learned from the 
manner in which the census has been taken, the apportion- 
ments made, and the character of the parties who are nomina- 



SECRETARY STANTON's APPORTIONMENT. 269 

ted as delegates to tlie convention. Such names as Hender- 
son, Calhoun, Boling, Jones, &c., should certainly encourage 
the free-state settlers to hope that justice will be done them. 
The taking of the census was a mere farce and a gross impo- 
sition. No returns were made of some of the largest towns 
in the territory, and even whole counties were neglected. To 
have carried out the letter of the law in this regard, would 
have been a useless trouble and expense, as' the whole matter 
was settled when the law was passed. A writer, who dates 
from Lecompton, May 25, 1857, says : — 

^^ A proclamation has been issued for the delegate election, 
by Mr. Stanton, as acting governor. An apportionment of rep- 
resentation has been made by him. Out of thirty-six counties, 
as organized by the authorities, only twenty-one have even a 
nominal representation. The census has only been taken in 
ten of these, and in only some portions of these ten. In six 
of these twenty-one counties thus reported, no census was 
taken, but a list of voters was taken from their old poll-books ; 
this having been done after the time for taking the census 
had expired. The other five are counties forming parts of 
districts which are mentioned because they are connected 
with others ; but in these no census was taken, and no former 
vote or representation on account of former vote, has been 
allowed. By this proclamation three-fifths of the settled 
counties of the territory are allowed no representation. In 
these there are at least two-fifths of the people in the whole 
territory, and including the emigration of this spring, one- 
half. 

" There are twenty counties to the south of the Kansas river, 
lying in a great solid mass, and filled with free-state towns 
and settlements, teeming with active life and industry; in 
one-half of them the great majority of claims are taken, and 
all are about as well settled as the majority of counties in most 
of the western states, and the whole of these are left without a 
particle of representation by this proclamation V^ 

One part of the plan, as explained to Governor Geary, is to 
adopt a constitution in which no reference whatever shall be 
made to the subject of slavery; and this fact has been an- 
nounced in the administration organs as an evidence of the 
conciliatory disposition of the pro-slavery party of Kansas. 
But the pretended merit of this scheme will disappear as soon 
as it is understood that slavery already exists in the territory, 
by statute ; and even though no mention may be made of it in 
23* 



270 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

the constitution, it will still remain an established institutioa 
of the new state. 

The pro-slavery papers of the country have also claimed for 
the late Legislative Assembly much credit for having repealed 
the odious and oppressive test and election laws created at the 
preceding session. But in this matter a reprehensible decep- 
tion has been practised. In repealing certain sections of these 
enactments, the legislature took especial care to permit others 
to remain upon the statute books, which contain all their most 
obnoxious features; so that, in fact, no improvement has been 
made. These acts, which ^^ are disgraceful to the age,'' are 
claimed, as has already been said, to be the production of a 
member from Missouri, who, in explanation of their existence, 
has since said : ^' Well, I wrote them on^ night when I was 
drunk, and presented them more for fun than anything else ; 
but they were unanimously adopted, all the members being as 
drunk as myself; thousch none of us intended that they should 
ever be enforced.'' The plea of insanity, well sustained, is 
all-sufficient in a court of law; that of drunkenness does not 
excuse the conduct of an offender. 

The Legislative Assembly adjourned at midnight, on the 2Lst 
of February, when the members of both houses, with all the 
clerks, door-keepers, and other attaches, called upon the gov- 
ernor, in a body, to pay their respects, previous to their 
departure for their several homes. This was a sort of salvo 
for the wholesale abuse of which he had been for six weeks 
the constant subject. 

Jan. 23ri. — A letter was received from Secretary Marcy, in 
which he expresses great concern about the meeting of the 
Topeka Legislature, already noticed. He says : — 

^' I learn, with regret, that a body of men calling themselves 
a Legislature, are about to assemble at Topeka. The Presi- 
dent's views in relation to the origin and purpose of such an 
assemblage, assuming the name and function of a legislative 
body, are fully set forth in his message to Congress of the 
24th day of January, 1856, a copy of which accomp^mied 
your instructions. The title used is, in itself, an unwarrant- 
able assumption. There can be but one legal legislative as- 
sembly in Kansas, and that, the one organized under the law 
of Congress. The assembling of the body referred to under 
the name and in the character of a legislature, is a procedure 
which ought to receive no countenance, whatever may be the 



PETITION OF PRISONERS. 271 

assurances of any individuals as to the acts which it will or 
will not do/^ 

2Qth. — A dispatch from the governor to the Secretary of 
State, of this date, contains the following paragraph : — 

'' The peace of the country remains unimpaired, and I have 
daily the most gratifying evidence of the general feeling of 
security which pervades all classes of the community. Not- 
withstanding, there are some amongst us who cannot exist 
much longer without commotion. I am closely watching 
their movements, and am determined to maintain peace at 
every hazard. ^^ 

In the same communication the necessity of additional land 
offices is urged, and also the disposal at an early day of the 
residue of the Delaware Trust Lands. 

28^A. — A requisition, through the hands of Charles P. 
Arnold, was received by Governor Geary from Governor Wise 
of Virginia, for the arrest of a fugitive from that state named 
J. L. McCubbin, charged with the larceny of nine hundred 
dollars. Governor Geary immediately dispatched a force of 
dragoons in company with Mr. Arnold and a deputy marshal, 
in pursuit of McCubbin, who was arrested, and sent back to 
Virginia. 

o\st. — A communication having appeared in the Topeka 
Tribune, written by its special correspondent, and reflecting 
somewhat severely upon Judge Elmore, the latter met Mr. 
Kagi, the author, in front of the Court House, in Tecumseh, 
and attempted to chastise him by striking him across the head 
with a cane. Kagi drew a pistol and inflicted a severe flesh 
wound in the thigh of Elmore, when the latter fired several 
shots at Kagi, who had started to run, one of which slightly 
wounded him in the side. Neither of them was seriously 
injured. An attempt to create an excitement on this occasion 
proved a failure. 

March ocL — The prisoners at Tecumseh petitioned Governor 
Geary to do something toward the amelioration of their condi- 
tion. They represented that for four days the only article of 
subsistence they had was coffee. The person who had con- 
tracted to furnish provisions, had stopped the rations because 
of the marshal having neglected to pay his bills. 

Qth. — The ice in the Kansas river, which had been frozen 
over for a long while, broke up in consequence of a freshet 
produced by heavy rains which had continued several days. 



272 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

All communication between the north and south sides of the 
river was^ for the time being, consequently suspended. 



CHAPTER XLII. 

Governor Geary^s instructions. — The United States troops. — Enrolment, 
mustering and discharge of the militia. — The troops withheld from the 
service of the governor. 

Soon after his appointment, and before his departure for 
the west, Governor Geary received the following instructions : — 

** Department of State : 

"Washington, August 26, 1856. 

*'Sir: The present condition of the territory of Kansas renders 
your duties as governor highly responsible and delicate. In the in- 
structions heretofore communicated to your predecessor, in February 
last ; in the annual message to Congress of the 24th of the previous 
December ; and in orders issued from the War Department (printed 
copies of which are herewith furnished), j^ou will find the policy of 
tl\e President fully presented. 4t is first, to maintain order and quiet 
in the territory of Kansas ; and, second, if disturbances occur therein, 
to bring to punishment the offenders. 

"Should the force which has been provided to attain these objects 
prove insufficient, you will promptly make known that fact to the 
President, that he may take such measures in regard thereto as to 
him may seem to be demanded by the exigencies of the case. 

"It is important that the President should be kept well informed 
as to the state of things in Kansas, and that the source of the informa- 
tion should be such as to insure its accuracy. You are therefore 
directed by him to communicate constantly with this department. 
Such facts as it is deemed important to have early known here, you 
will cause to be transmitted by telegraph as well as by mail. 

" The President indulges a hope, that, by your energy, impartiality, 
and discretion, the tranquillity of the territory will be restored, and 
the persons and property of the citizens therein protected. 
" I am, sir, &c., 

"W. L. Marcy." 

"His Excellency, John W. Geary, 

"Governor of Kansas Territory.'* 

In order that the governor might have ample means to 
carry out these instructions, and ''J^o maintain order and 
quiet in the territory of Kansas, and if disturbances occurred 
therein J to hring to punishment the offendersy he was not 



GOVERNOR Geary's instructions. 273 

only given discretionary powers as to the expenditure of money, 
but was directed, if he found the United States forces inade- 
quate, not only to muster into the service the militia of the 
territory, but to avail himself of requisitions made upon the 
governors of other states. A letter received from the secre- 
tary of state was as follows : — 

*' Department of State: 

*' Washington, September 2, 1856. 
" Sir : Reliable information having reached the President that armed 
and organized bodies of men, avowedly in rebellion against the terri- 
torial government, have concentrated in such numbers as to require 
additional military force for their dispersion, you will have the militia 
of the territory, completely enrolled and organized, to the end that 
they may on short notice be brought into the service of the United 
States. Upon requisition of the commander of the military depart- 
ment in which Kansas is embraced, you will furnish by companies, or 
regiments, or brigades, or divisions, such number and composition of 
troops, as, from time to time, you may find, on his report to you, to 
be necessary for the suppression of all combinations to resist the laws 
of the United States too powerful to be suppressed by the civil autho- 
rity, and for the maintenance of public order and civil government in 
the territory. 

*' I am, sir, &c., 

*'W. L. Maecy. 
" To His Excellency, John W. Geary, 

" Governor of the Territory of Kansas, Lecompton." 

A dispatch was also forwarded to G-eneral Smith, by the 
secretary of war. From the instructions this contains, as well 
as from the tenor of other documents that will be found in 
this chapter, it is quite palpable that the administration at 
Washington had been utterly deceived in regard to the true 
condition of things in Kansas, and was laboring under the 
strange hallucination that all the difficulties existing there 
were attributable to free-state settlers and invaders. These 
were the only persons who were supposed to be violating ^Hhe 
peace and quiet^' of the territory; these were the only offenders 
whom Governor Geary was expected to '^ bring to punishment;'^ 
these were the parties against whom the troops were to be em- 
ployed; and hence it is not difficult to account for the fact that 
the countenance of the administration was withheld and the 
troops withdrawn from him, as soon as it was ascertained that 
he had so far misunderstood his instructions and the wishes 
of his employers, as to cause the arrest of a pro-slavery mur- 
derer. All went well so long as he continued to cram the 
filthy jail with free-state prisoners; but his fate was sealed 
S 



274 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

when he exhibited a disposition to punish their political oppos- 
ers. This was no part of the programme, and the powers at 
Washington were astonished that Geary did not understand, or, 
understanding, did not lend his aid to further their policy. 
The following is a copy of the dispatch from the secretary of 
war : — 

**War Department: 

" Washi-ngtoii, September 3, 185C. 

"Sir: Your dispatch of 22(1 xiugust and its enclosures sufiBciently 
exhibit the inadequacy of the force under your command to perform 
the duties which have been devolved upon you in the present unhappy 
condition of Kansas by the orders and instructions heretofore com- 
municated. To meet this exigency, the President has directed the 
governor of the territory to complete the enrolment and organization 
of the militia, as you will find fully S9t forth in the enclosed copy of 
a letter addressed to him by the secretary of state ; and the president 
has directed me to say to you that you are authorized, from time to 
time, to make requisitions upon the governor for such militia force as 
you may require to enable you promptly and successfully to execute 
your orders and suppress insurrection against the government of the 
territory of Kansas, and under the circumstances heretofore set forth 
in your instructions, to give the requisite aid to the otiicers of the 
civil government who may be obstructed in the due execution of the 
law. Should you not be able to' derive from the militia of Kansas 
the adequate force for these purposes, such additional number of 
militia as may be necessary will be drawn from the states of Illinois 
and Kentucky, as shown in the requisition, a copy of which is here 
enclosed. 

"The views contained in your instructions to the officers command- 
ing the troops, under date of August 19, are fully approved, and 
accord so entirely with the purposes of the executive as to leave but 
little to add in relation to the course which it is desired you should 
pursue. The position of the insurgents, as shown by your letter and 
its enclosures, is that of open rebellion against the laws and consti- 
tutional authorities, with such manifestation of a purpose to spread 
devastation over the land as no longer justifies f.urther hesitation or 
indulgence. To you, as to every soldier whose habitual feeling is to 
protect the citizens of his own country, and only to use his arms 
against a public enemy, it cannot be otherwise than deeply painful to 
be brought into conflict with any portion of his fellow-countrymen; 
but patriotism and humanity alike require that rebellion should be 
promptly crushed, and the perpetration of the crimes which now dis.- 
turb the peace and security of the good people of the territory of 
Kansas should be effectually checked. You will, therefore, energeti- 
cally employ all the means within your reach to restore the supremacy 
of law, always endeavoring to carry out your present purpose to pre- 
vent the unnecessary effusion of blood. 

" In making your requisitions for militia force, you will be governed 
by the existing organization of the army and the laws made and pro- 
vided in such cases. When companies, regiments, brigades, or divi- 



INSTRUCTIONS TO GOVERNOR GEARY. 275 

sions are presented to be mustered into the service of the United 
States, you will cause them, before they are received, to be minutely 
inspected by an ofiQcer of your command, appointed for the purpose. 
"Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
" Jefpersox Dayis, 

"Secretary of War. 
"Major-General Persifer F. Smith, 

" Commanding Department of the West." 

The following, sent by telegraph to the governor, establishes 
the fact beyond a doubt, that the government regarded all the 
offences as coming from one parti/^ the free-state; because, 
while it points out, with exaggeration, outrages alleged to have 
been committed by that party, it makes no mention of, nor 
reference to, the still greater enormities, perpetrated by the 
pro-slavery agitators and invaders : — 

" Washington, September 9, 1856. 
"To J. W. Geary. 

"I presume the orders sent by Colonel Emory on the 3d instant 
have already reached you. If the militia which those orders made 
subject to the requisition of General Smith are not sufficient for the 
exigency, notify me by telegraph. The insurrectionary invasion of the 
territory by the way of Xehraska, and the subsequent hostile attacks on 
che post-office at Franklin, and on the dwellings of Titus and of Clarke^ 
seem to have stimulated to unlawful acts of the same character on the 
borders of Missouri. The President expects you to maintain the public 
peace, and to bring to punishment all acts of violence or disorder by 
whomever perpetrated and on whatever pretext. And he relies on 
your energy and discretion, and the approved capacity, decision, and 
coolness of character of General Smith, to prevent or suppress all 
attempts to kindle civil war in the territory of Kansas. A commu- 
nication on the same subject has this day been telegraphed to General 
Smith, by the secretary of war, with positive directions that no parties 
or bodies of armed men shall be allowed to carry on military opera- 
tions in the territory, save such persons as are enrolled by him into 
the service of the United States. 

"W. L. Marcy, 

"Secretary of State." 

It is true that the honorable secretary of state here directs 
the governor to '^hring to punishment all acts of violence or 
disorder y hy loliomever perpetrated, and on whatever pretext f 
but, at the same time, while he distinctly points to every of- 
fence that could be charged against the free-state men, even to 
a hostile attack upon the house of Clarke, which house had 
never been molested, he seems to have been entirely oblivious 
of the fact that General Reid and Captain Pate and General 
Whitfield, at the head of armed bands of Missourians, had 



276 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

invaded tlie territory, sacked towns, robbed post-offices, burned 
houses, ravished and branded women^ stolen horses and cattle, 
destroyed crops, and committed other enormities too horrible 
to imagine or describe. He seemed insensible of the fact^ that 
a band of marauders, under the command of this very man 
Clarke, whose house is falsely alleged to have been assailed, had 
pillaged stores and dwellings, and after having murdered a man 
in the most brutal manner, buried him a few inches below the 
ground, leaving his hands sticking out for tomb-stones ; and 
at the time the secretary was writing his dispatch, an immense 
army was congregating in Missouri, carrying black flags as the 
indices of their murderous intentions, for the purpose of in- 
vading Kansas, under the authority of the governor, to destroy 
free-state towns and massacre their inhabitants. These were 
not the men whom Governor Geary was expected to ^^ bring 
to punishment;'' for he no sooner dared to lay his hand upon 
the worst assassin of them all, than he was clearly given to 
understand that his services were no longer needed. 

Immediately after the dismissal of the volunteers called into 
service by Secretary Woodson, as related in another chapter, 
Governor Geary gave the requisite instructions for the enrol- 
ment of all the actual citizens of the territory, with a view to 
the proper organization of the militia, to be mustered into the 
service of the government whenever exigencies should seem 
to require. It was soon apparent that several companies would 
be needed to assist the civil authorities to execute warrants, to 
guard the prisoners of the territory, and to aid in the mainte- 
nance of the peace in various localities. General Smith being 
made aware of this fact, he made requisition, as follows, upon 
the governor, for three companies, one of cavalry and two of 
infantry, to be mustered into the regular service of the United 
States : — 

" Head Quarters, Department of the West, 

"Fort Leavenworth, September 17, 1856. 
" His Excellency, J. W. Geary, 

" Grovernor of the Territory of Kansas. 
" Sir: By virtue of the authority given me by the President of the 
United States, a copy of which is in your possession, I have the honor 
to make a requisition on you for two companies of militia, infantry, 
for the service of the United States. 

"Each company to consist of one captain, one first-lieutenant, four 
eergeants, four corporals, two musicians, and seventy-four privates. 
*' The companies, when ready, will be mustered into the service of 



THE KANSAS MILITIA. 277 

tbe United States by an officer who will be detailed for that purpose 
by Lieutenant-Colonel Cooke from his command. 

" With the highest respect, your obedient servant, 
" Persifer F. Smith, 
**Bt. Major-General commanding Department." 

On tlie 28tli, a similar requisition was made ^^ for one com- 
pany of cavalry, to consist of one captain, one first-lieutenant, 
one second-lieutenant, four sergeants, four corporals, two bu- 
glers, one farrier and blacksmith, and seventy-four privates/' 

These companies were forthwith organized and duly mustered 
into the service for the period of three months, by United States 
officers detailed for that purpose. One of these infantry com- 
panies was raised at Lawrence, and was composed entirely of 
free-state men, under the command of Captain Samuel Walker. 
The others were enrolled and stationed at Lecompton, and were 
all of the pro-slavery party, the mounted company commanded 
by Captain John Wallis, and the infantry by Captain John 
Donaldson. In all they numbered nearly two hundred and 
fifty men. Colonel H. T. Titus having been commissioned by 
the governor, as his aid-de-camp, had special direction of these 
troops. 

Peace being thoroughly established in every part of the ter- 
ritory, and the militia wearying of their inactivity, became 
desirous of returning to the pursuits of civil life, and on the 
19 th of November the free-state company at Lawrence ad- 
dressed a communication to the governor, signed by the captain 
and all his men, as follows : — 

^^ The undersigned, members of the Kansas militia, mustered 
into the service of the United States, at Lawrence, K. T., in 
obedience to your call, would respectfully submit, that when 
our services were required, the territory was distracted with 
internal feuds and threatened with invasion by those from 
abroad who had no residence in the country, then, since, or 
prospectively. 

^' We were ready to give assistance in staying the hand of 
violence, which had laid this country waste, to some extent 
depopulated it, and made life insecure. We trusted you were 
sincere in your professions to act justly towards the settlers, and 
we cheerfully left our ordinary occupations to aid, so far as we 
could, in restoring peace and quiet to this unfortunate territory. 

^^We have watched your course since your arrival amongst 
us as our executive, with much anxiety, and although we have 
24 



278 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

wished to see you do what you have not done, still we are sen- 
sible, and bear it in grateful remembrance, that, by your activity 
and energy, you have done much towards the restoration of 
that feeling of protection that all who live under organized 
governments have a right to expect. We thank you for it, 
and trust confidently that you may not forget that we are part 
and parcel of this great republic, although we may differ from 
our neighboring state on some political subjects. 

^' We now feel that you have the power and will to protect 
the citizens of the country, and that, therefore, our services 
are not required. If you think such is the case, we request 
to be permitted to return to our several occupations, with the 
assurance that should you require our assistance in the future, 
you may be sure that right and justice to all will always be the 
object of our best efforts, and should you call for them, they 
will be given to you with unreserved zeal and fidelity.'' 

Upon the receipt of this petition, the governor addressed a let- 
ter to Greneral Smith, informing him of the continuation of the 
general peace, and that the services of the militia could be dis- 
pensed with, and suggested ^^the propriety of mustering them 
out of the service, in order that they might retire to their 
homes, and gratify their desires in the pursuits of peace.'* 

A few days afterwards, on the 25th, a similar request to that 
of Captain Walker, was received from Captain Donaldson and 
his company. This had seventy-eight signatures, and read as 
follows : — 

'^ We, the undersigned, officers and members of Company A, 
2d llegt. Inft. Kansas Militia, believing that the policy 
adopted by your excellency, which has been so rigidly carried 
out, has produced such happy results that we can no longer 
serve you to advantage; whilst, therefore, acknowledging our 
appreciation and admiration of that peace and quiet which has 
been restored once more by your noble efforts, we respectfully 
ask to be discharged honorably from the service." 

On the same day, the following communication, signed by 
Captain Wallis and all his men, was also received : — 

^' The general peace pervading the territory, indicating that 
the object for which we were called into service has been ac- 
complished, should it meet your approbation, we are now desi- 
rous of quitting the tented field; and returning to our homes, 



PAY OF THE MILITIA. 279 

our families and friends^ where we hope, under your effective 
administration, to be permitted peaceably and safely to attend 
our varied avocations. These hopes are inspired by what we 
have seen of your success in quelling the disturbances by which 
our territory has been so sadly distressed. Confiding in your 
integrity and ability, you have our most devout wishes that 
peace may attend your administration, and that the reward of 
patriotism may be yours.'' 

These communications were respectively answered by the 
governor, their compliments to his integrity and efficiency ac- 
knowledged, and the means immediately adopted to comply 
with the request of the petitioners. A correspondence having 
been opened on the subject with General Smith, he appointed 
the 1st day of December, by especial desire of the governor, 
to muster the two pro-slavery companies out of service at Fort 
Leavenworth, and the other at Lawrence. It then appeared 
that the paymaster had no appropriation for the payment of 
these troops ; hence the governor, in a letter to General Smith, 



^^I send by Major S. Woods a warrant of my own private 
funds, payable to your order, for fifteen hundred dollars, to be 
handed over to the paymaster for the purpose of paying the 
privates and non-commissioned officers. * * >J^ It appears to 
me that if application be made to the department, payment 
would be ordered to the volunteers, and I would be immediately 
reimbursed.'' 

In reply to this the governor was informed by communica- 
tion from head-quarters, that no instructions could be given for 
the payment of the militia ^^ until an appropriation for that 
purpose is made by Congress," and hence it would be necessary 
for the governor ^' to make arrangements with some individual 
to disburse" the fifteen hundred dollars he had forwarded/^ to 
the men to be discharged." Secretary Woodson was accordingly 
chosen for that purpose, and the militia were dismissed from 
the service, having been paid with the governor's private funds, 
although mustered by direction of the president, and on requi- 
sition of the commander of the military department of the 
west. 

Peace continuing to prevail, the governor had in the mean 
time announced the fact to General Smith, and suggested that, 
for the comfort of the regular troops, their services not being 



280 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

immediately required, they should be withdrawn to Fort Lea- 
venworth for winter-quarters, which was accordingly done, one 
small company of infantry, under Captain Flint, being left to 
guard the prisoners at Tecumseh, and a company of twenty- 
three dragoons, under Captain Newby, being quartered on the 
Grasshopper Creek near Lecompton. 

Such was the gratifying aspect of affairs through the entire 
fall and winter, until the peace was again threatened by the 
almost daily outrages of Sherrard and his friends, the predic- 
tions of the Lecompton Union ^ and at last, the personal insult 
offered to the governor on the 9th of February, and the open 
endorsement of that act by a large portion of the members of 
the legislature. Before this latter occurrence, a number of 
peaceful citizens had called upon the governor, urging the 
necessity for the presence at Lecompton of a small force of 
United States troops to protect them against the threatened 
disturbances. Finding, from his own experience, that this alarm 
was not altogether groundless, as he had before supposed, he 
dispatched a messenger with the following requisition to Gen- 
eral Smith : — 

** Executive Department, Kansas Territory, 

''February 9, 1857. 
*' Major-General Persifer F. Smith, 

*' Commanding Department of the West. 

** Dear Sir: There are certain persons present in Lecompton, who 
are determined, if within the bounds of possibility, to bring about a 
breach of the peace. During the last few days a number of persons 
have been grossly insulted ; and to-day an insult has been otfered to 
myself. A person named Sherrard, who some days ago had been 
appointed Sherifif of Douglas county, which appointment was strongly 
protested against by a respectable number of the citizens of the county, 
and I had deferred commissioning him. This, it appears, gave mortal 
offence to Sherrard, and he has made up his mind to assassinate me. 
This may lead to trouble. It must be prevented, and that by imme- 
diate action. I require, therefore, two additional companies of 
dragoons, to report to me with the least possible delay. / think this 
is a.bsolutel^iecessary, and I trust you will immediately comply with my 
request. I write in great haste, as the messenger is about leaving, 

"I wish you would keep an eye upon Leavenworth City, as I hear 
of troublesome indications there. I am confident that there is a con- 
spiracy on foot to disturb the peace, and various pretexts will be, and 
have been used to accomplish this fell purpose. 

" I am perfectly cool, and intend to keep so; but I am also more 
rigilant than ever. 

*« Yery truly, your friend, 

*'Jno. W. Geary." 



WITHDRAWAL OF UNITED STATES TROOPS. 281 

It soon became known through the town that the governor 
had sent a messenger to Fort Leavenworth for troops, and the 
fact afforded ground for merriment to the crowds of ruffians 
who hung about the groggeries, ready to commit any atrocity 
by direction of certain prominent men; they having received 
later intelligence from the seat of government than his excel- 
lency, and been satisfactorily assured that the United States 
forces were no longer under his control. Information to this 
effect was conveyed to Governor Geary, who treated it with 
the scorn he supposed it merited. What, then, was his 
astonishment, when the messenger returned from General 
Smith with the following answer : — 

** Head Quarters, Department of the West, 

**Fort Leavenworth, Feb. 11, 1857. 
*' His Excellency, John W. Geary, 

** Governor of Kansas Territory, 
*' Lecompton, K. T. 
"Governor: I have'tbe honor to acknowledge the receipt of your 
letter of the 9th instant, in which you 'require immediately, two 
additional companies of dragoons to report to you in consequence of 
your confidence that there is a conspiracy on foot to disturb the 
peace' — and also acknowledge the receipt of a previous letter requir- 
ing a battalion to be sent to you in view of the large immigration 
expected here in the spring. 

*• If you refer to the laws you will observe that the president is 
authorized to call the military and naval forces into action, to : 1st, 
repel invasion ; 2d, to suppress insurrection ; and 3d, to repress com- 
binations to obstruct the execution of the laws, too strong for the 
civil power. Insults or probable breaches of the peace do not autho- 
rize the employment of the troops. 

"Besides, all the forces here have just been designated by the sec- 
retary of war, and are under orders, for other service more distant ; 
and even the companies near you will have to be recalled. They are 
sufficient to repress any breach of the peace, and I cannot move them 
until the weather improves. 

** But even they are to be employed to aid the civil authority only 
in the contingencies mentioned in the laws above referred to. The 
garrisons to be left in the territory will be available if the president 
tlirects their employment, 

"The contingency under which the troops were acting I consider 
to have ceased. Without the grossest imprudence on the part of the 
civil authorities in Leavenworth, I see not the slightest probability 
of any disturbance there ; and on inquiry, I can hear of none from 
various inhabitants. With the highest respect, 

"Your obedient servant, 

"Persifer F. Smith, 
"Brevet Major-General commanding." 
24* 



282 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

This was the first official information lie had received of the 
fact that the government, which had sent him to Kansas, to 
suppress insurrection, preserve the peace, and punish offenders, 
with the largest promises of support and assistance, had 
secretly taken from him even the means to protect his own 
life against assassins, who being apprised of the action at 
Washington, and encouraged by it, were plotting his destruc- 
tion. When he took possession of the government of Kansas, 
he was to have control, not only of all the regular forces in 
the territory, to be used at his discretion^ when he considered 
exigencies required their employment, but he was empowered 
to enrol all the militia of the territory^ and muster them into 
the service, and to call upon the governors of Kentucky and 
Illinois for two additional regiments. Noic, having conquered 
a peace by his indomitable energy, and saved the country from 
an impending civil war, and finding the peace again threat- 
ened and his own life in danger, in order to obey his instruc- 
tions to '^ preserve the peace'' he had established, and be 
governed by ''the exigencies of affairs as they should be pre- 
sented to HIM on the spot/' he calls upon General Smith for a 
few soldiers, who, in reply, tells him that the troops are no 
longer under his control; " the contingency under ichich they 
were acting I consider to have ceased f "besides, all the forces 
here have just been designated by the secretary of tear, and 
are under orders, for other service more distant, and even the 
companies near you will have to be recalled T^ 

Never was a grosser insult ever offered to an official. And 
why? Governor Geary had accomplished the ostensible object 
of his mission to Kansas. He had put an end to a destructive 
civil war, and from chaos, confusion, and wretchedness, brought 
peace, prosperity and happiness. True; but he had done 
more than that. He had arrested a pro-slavery murderer, and 
when a partial chief justice had set him at liberty, he persisted 
in bringing him to justice and punishment, agreeably to the 
letter of his instructions. Other pro-slavery murderers, and 
the companions of such, made their complaints at Washington; 
Calhoun and Clarke declared that Geary should be removed 
for that act; they had sufficient influence to accomplish their 
threats, and succeeded to perfection. 

Whilst things were in this condition, and the indignation 
meeting of honest citizens was about to be held at Lecompton 
on the 18th of February, Judge Cato, as has been related, 
called upon the governor, requesting him to interpose his 



WITHDRAWAL OF UNITED STATES TROOPS. 283 

autliorlty to disperse the meeting. The judge knew that the 
governor had no authority to interpose — he knew that he had 
been stripped of all military power, and that to appear at the 
meeting in person, would simply have been to present a mark 
for the bullet of the assassin, which, of all things, was then 
the most desired. At that time Captain Newby's small com- 
pany of dragoons was on the north side of the Kansas River, 
which was impassable, in consequence of the ice having just 
broken up, and might just as well, for all the use they could 
have rendered the governor, have been in the Fejee Islands; 
and Captain Flint's company of infantry were ten miles off at 
Tecumseh. Besides, both these companies were ordered to 
report themselves at Fort Leavenworth, as soon as the weather 
would permit them to travel, which they did. Captain Flint's 
company stopping at Lecompton, and taking with it the only 
soldier the governor had left to guard an iron safe containing 
the public documents, and moneys belonging to himself and 
others. 

Shortly after the receipt of the foregoing letter of General 
Smith, the governor returned the following reply, which did 
not reach the general at Fort Leavenworth, he having departed 
for Washington: — 

** Executive Department, K. T., 

"Lecompton, March 2, 1857. 
*' Ma.jor-Gexeral p. F. Smith, 

"Commanding Department of the West. 

"Dear Sir: Your letter of 11th February was duly received, and 
my most serious consideration has been given to its contents. 

" I regret to be compelled to differ from you in the opinion that 
*the contingency under which the troops were acting' has 'ceased.* 
It seems to me that a proper view of the existing condition of things 
in the territory would lead to a different conclusion. 

" The peace that now prevails is not only threatened by irresponsi- 
ble individuals, but its destruction is boldly proclaimed by the news- 
paper organ of a clique or faction of sufficient influence and numbers 
'to obstruct the execution of the laws,' and 'too strong for the civil 
power.' That attempts have been made to execute these threats and 
verify these predictions, you have already received conclusive assur- 
ances. 

" That the presence of the troops here has been needed up to the 
present moment, and that it has held in check those determined to 
create disturbances, is quite apparent ; and that their removal at 
this time, when their presence is daily becoming more needful, will 
be attended with serious and perhaps calamitous results, is very 
probable. 

"Besides, the large incoming immigration of peaceful settlers re- 



284 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

quires protection, which cannot be given by any civil posses that can 
be raised, in consequence of the bitter feelings existing among the 
advocates of conflicting political sentiments on the highly exciting 
question which so long kept the territory in a state of feverish agita- 
tion and even anarchy. 

'•Large combinations will doubtless be formed to resist attempted 
and even threatened violations of the law — and invasion and insurrec- 
tion, with their fearful consequences, may be anticipated. 

*' The presence of the troops, even should their active service never 
be required, will be sufficient, perhaps, to 'repel invasion,' which 
there is reason to expect — ' suppress insurrection,' which has been 
predicted by seeming authority — and 'repress combinations to ob- 
struct the execution of the laws too strong for the civil power,' which 
seem to exist. 

" The withdrawal of all the troops at this time would, in my opi- 
nion, be the signal for the lawless to commence difficulties, which 
their presence alone may entirely prevent. A little care to guard 
against evils which we can foresee, may prevent others of greater 
magnitude which are beyond our comprehension. 

" In view of these facts, I must respectfully ask, that Captain 
Newby's company may be permitted to remain in this vicinity during 
the present month, or, at least, until I shall be able to communicate 
with and receive an answer from the authorities at Washington, upon 
the subject. The importance of the matter will doubtless suggest 
itself to your mind, and grant a ready compliance with this request. 

** An immediate answer will oblige, most sincerely, 

** Your friend and obedient servant, 

"Jxo. W. Geary, 
"Governor of Kansas Territory." 

In view of the facts so clearly established by the foregoing 
documents — that G-eneral Smith had declined furnishing Go- 
vernor G-eary with troops at the time he supposed their ser- 
vices were needed; that the general declared the secretary of 
war had ordered all the forces to other and more distant ser- 
vice; and that even the few soldiers still near the governor 
had been ordered to report themselves at Fort Leavenworth, 
as soon as the weather would sufficiently moderate to enable 
them to travel, — it is somewhat remarkable that General Smith, 
after the resignation of Governor Geary, should have addressed 
the following communication to Secretary Davis : — 

"Baltimore, March 28, 1857. 
"Hon. Jefferson Davis, 
" Senator. 
"Dear Sir: I received a letter a few minutes since from' the* editor 
of the Evening Star, requesting me to ' substantiate a contradiction 
you make to some assertion in the Herald of Governor Geary.' I 
happen to have my letter-book, and send you a copy of my letter to 



WITHDRAWAL OF UNITED STATES TROOPS. 285 

the governor when he 'required' a squadron of dragoons to be sent 
to him. He had already Captain Newby's and Captain Flint's com- 
panies of troops under his control, and he stated no case that would 
justify reinforcing them in the middle of the winter. I declined 
sending them, evidently without your interference in the matter, for 
you were in Washington. His letter is of the 9th February and my 
answer of the 11th. I exercised the discretion left me by the presi- 
dent, for I saw there was no need of them. 

" I send the copy to you, for I do not think myself at liberty to 
publish part of an oflScial correspondence without authority from 
higher authority. 

" ^Eoreover, I think your simple contradiction is suflBcient; the 
affair will not offer to Governor Geary any advantage in pursuing it, 
unless he provokes proof of what the Herald says, and that is on record 
in the Department of the West. 

*' I have copies of my letters, but his are on file in the ofiBce of the 
Department of the West. 

"I repeat, that with my knowledge of all that took place the go- 
vernor will not pursue the matter. 

<* With sincere respect, your obedient servant, 
'* Persifee. F. Smith, 
Bt. Maj.-Gen. Comm'g Dep't of the West.'* 

In the generars letter to the governor he says : ^^ All the 
forces here have just been designated hi/ the secretari/ of war y 
and are under orders for other service more distant.'^ In the 
letter to G-eneral Davis he says : '' I declined sending them, 
evidently without your interference in the matter, for you were 
in Washington. '^ What General Smith means by saying that 
the simple contradiction of Secretary Davis will be sufficient 
to disprove the fact that the troops had been withdrawn from 
Governor Geary's service, it would be extremely difficult to 
comprehend. It is certain that the troops were withdrawn, 
and from the following communication to the Adjutant-Gen- 
eral of the United States, it would seem at the suggestion of 
General Smith himself : — 

Head-Quarters, Department of the West, 

"Fort Leavenworth, Saturday, Nov. 11. 
"Colonel: Since my last communication nothing of importance 
has happened in the department. After the success of the measures 
taken a few weeks since to prevent the gross outrages on the law, 
then threatened, and to suppress the disorders then existing in the 
territory, order and tranquillity have gradually resumed their legiti- 
mate sway; the laws have again been put in operation, and the admi- 
nistration of justice revived. Deserted farms are again occupied, 
fences rebuilt, fields put under cultivation, and the ruins of houses, 
destroyed by fire, replaced by more durable habitations ; the roads 
are covered with travellers, unarmed and secure ; and the towns 



286 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

thronged with persons selling their produce and purchasing from the 
stores. All these evidences of restored order have enabled me, with 
the concurrence of the governor of the territory, to recall the troops 
from the active duty on which they have been employed, and to esta- 
blish thera again at their proper posts, where they are to pass the 
winter. As there are no secure prisons yet built for territorial autho- 
rities to use in the administration of justice, at his request there will 
remain at the disposition of the governor a few men to guard prisoners 
in the custody of the law and for other such contingencies. 

" I am happy, then, to be enabled to announce to the War Depart- 
ment, and through it to the president, the entire success of the mea- 
sures they directed to be taken for the suppression of insurrection 
and removal of obstructions to the regular administration of justice, 
and that this end has been attained without the shedding of blood or 
the exertion of any force beyond the ordinary arrest of persona 
accused of crimes. 

" The winter has commenced with severity much earlier than usual, 
and it is now too late to send the companies of the Sixth Infantry to 
the posts further west — their original destination. From necessity 
they must be crowded into the quarters at Fort Leavenworth. The 
great reduction in the number of men in the First Cavalry will 
render this possible now, which it would not be if the latter regiment 
were full. 

*' Being no longer occupied with the affairs of the territory, which 
have caused so much uneasiness, undivided attention can be paid for 
punishing the Cheyennes Indians. In pursuing them in the spring, 
the great want will be forage and transportation fcR.' supplies. Pas- 
turing animals in rapid movements is impossible ; nor can horses 
perform a regular day's work on grass. In short, daily journeys, 
grass is sufficient, for there is time to pasture and very little labor to 
undergo. Additional appropriations wdll therefore be necessary to 
provide for the expedition, which must be chiefly of mounted men, 
and ought to be ready by the middle of April. The details of the 
force and the direction of the operations cannot now be determined ; 
but a general appropriation of an additional sum — much less, how- 
ever, than that given to the Sioux expedition — will be advisable. 

" I will again report that I consider tranquillity and order entirely 
restored in Kansas. I foresee nothing in the shape of disorder that 
the ordinary means in the hands of the civil authority, directed by as 
able and energetic hands as those of the present governor, are not 
amply sufficient to control ; and the whole time and efforts of the 
troops here can henceforward be devoted to the protection of the 
frontier. 

" With the highest respect, your obedient servant, 

" Persifer F. Smith, 
"Commanding Department." 

** Colonel Samuel Cooper, Adjutant-General of the Army." 

Now, from all tliis, it very clearly appears that, althougli 
tlie president had placed at the disposal of Governor Geary the 
United States forces in Kansas^ to preserve the peace and 



THE TERRITORIAL EXPENSES. 287 

bring offenders to punishment, and to be employed by bim as 
he supposed existing circumstances sbould require, those 
forces, at the suggestion of General Smith (who had been con- 
fined, by indisposition, to his quarters during the entire term 
of Governor Geary's administration, and, therefore, had very 
limited opportunities for ascertaining the true condition of the 
territory, and the exigencies that might demand the use of 
troops), and without consulting Governor Geary on the sub- 
ject, were taken from the support of the governor and ordered 
t) other service, and that at a time when the peace of the ter- 
ritory and the life of the executive were alike threatened and 
in danger. 



CHAPTER XLIIT. 

Resignation of Governor Geary. — His Farewell Address. 

Governor Geary was not only deprived of the use of the 
sword at a time when he considered it needful to carry out his 
instructions, but the public purse-strings were also drawn against 
him. The following communication was received on the 13th 
of November : — 

*' Department of State, 

"Washington, October 30th, 1856. 
** John W. Geary, Esq. 

"Governor of the Territory of Kansas. 

" Sir: — I have received your letter of the 6th inst., in -which you 
ask to be furnished with a draft for two thousand dollars for meeting 
the contingent expenses of the government of Kansas. 

The president does not doubt the necessity that you should be put 
in possession of the means you have asked for, and he has gone into 
a careful examination of the authority he has under the laws, to com- 
ply with your request. He regrets to be obliged to state that this 
examination has resulted in a conviction on his part, that he ha-s no 
authority to advance for the contingent expenses of the government 
of Kansas territory, any amount whatever, beyond the sum appro- 
priated by Congress for that purpose. The appropriation, which was 
an inconsiderable sum, has been exhausted, and there is no power in 
the executive government of the United States to furnish you with 
any more. This state of things is most seriously regretted ; for, 
situated as you are, the sum provided by Congress for the contingent 
expenses of the territory must fall far short of that required for the 
public service. The subject, will, of course, occupy the attention of 



288 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

Congress at the approaching session ; but what will be its decision 
on it cannot be foretold. I should think there could be no doubt, 
that the next Congress will provide the means for paying all the ex- 
penses which may be or have been properly incurred in administering 
the affairs of the territorial government. « 

*'I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant. 

** W. L. Marcy." 

Such was tlie encouragement received by Governor Geary 
from the government at Washington. It could have been 
nothing less than an enlarged patriotism that caused him to 
retain so long the most thankless and unprofitable office in the 
nation. For months he had labored for the public good with 
untiring energy, not even taking time for needed rest and 
sleep ; deprived of all the usual comforts of life ; occupying a 
log house, and very often unable to obtain wholesome food; 
vexed and harassed hourly with the complaints of an abused 
people ; constant drafts being made by persons whom he was 
compelled to employ, upon his pecuniary resources ; required 
to pay the militia called into the service by the president him- 
self, from his own private funds ; every federal officer in the 
territory conspiring to embarrass his administration; his mails 
overhauled and their contents examined by government offi- 
cials; surrounded with organized bands of assassins; and 
without a word of comfort or a particle of aid from the general 
government, he still continued, with fidelity, zeal and unflag- 
ging energy, to discharge the arduous duties of his station. 

Under these discouraging circumstances, he addressed a 
lengthy letter to Secretary Marcy, on the 22d of November, 
from which the following is extracted : — 

^^ I herewith transmit you by the hands of Brevet Major 
H. H. Sibley, a copy of my executive minutes from the 17th 
day of October to the 21st day of November, inclusive. These 
minutes will furnish you a truthful history of Kansas affairs. 
They embrace a daily record of all my official transactions, and 
a full statement of any matters requiring explanation. 

'• Fully appreciating the delicate and responsible mission 
confided to me by the generous partiality of the president, 
and knowing how liable, amid the strife and prejudice which 
seemed to hold undisturbed sway hei'e, a person with the most 
patriotic intentions might be to misrepresentation and abuse, 
I adopted the custom of keeping an hourly record of all 
events, in any manner connected with my official action; which, 



GOVERNOR GEARY TO SECRETARY MARCY. 289 

from time to time, I might send to you, as my best vindicatioa 
to the administration and the country. 

'* Properly to keep my executive minutes — to answer the 
heavy correspondence with this department — to prepare official 
dispatches — to execute missions requiring secrecy and intel- 
ligence — and perform the multifarious duties devolving upon 
me, owing to the anomalous condition of affairs, has occupied 
my whole time, assisted by industrious and intelligent secreta- 
ries, whom the public exigencies required me to employ. 

*^ As occasions arose, I did not pause to enter into any re- 
fined analysis of the nature and extent of my authority, nor 
to inc^uire where the money would come from to reimburse 
necessary and imperative expenditures ; but at once adopted 
the means best calculated to secure the desired end, and paid 
all expenses out of my own private resources, confiding in 
the justice of the administration and Congress for a reimburse- 
ment and support. 

^' Your general instructions have been the lights by which 
my official action has been governed, and where the letter of 
instruction did not meet the crisis, I have based my action on 
that portion of your comprehensive dispatch of the 23d of 
September, in which you say : — 

*^ ^ Your prompt and vigorous attention will be directed to- 
wards those who meditate further mischief and are disposed to 
obstruct your efforts to restore the supremacy of the civil au- 
thority ! The president relies upon your energy and discre- 
lion to overcome the difficulties which surround you, and to 
i^ostore tranquillity to Kansas, The exigencies of affairs, as 
they shall he presented to you on the spot, will indicate the 
course of proceeding in particular cases, calculated to such re- 
sults, better than any definite instructions emanating from this 
department,' 

'• At so great a distance from the general government, and 
so inaccessible to speedy communications from Washington, it 
is absolutely indispensable for the preservation of order and 
the protection of life, liberty and property, that the governor 
of this territory should be clothed with large discretionary 
powers. 

*^ When I arrived here the entire territory was declared, by 
the acting-governor, to be in a state of insurrection ; the civil 
authority was powerless, and so complicated by partisan affili- 
ations as to be without capacity to vindicate the majesty of the 
law and restore the broken peace. 
25 T 



290 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

^^ In this state of affairs the most vigorous and determined 
action on my part seemed the only remedy for the growing 
evils. Impartial justice will ever commend itself to every 
American citizen worthy to bear the name. To disband armed 
bodies of men assembled under color of law, and disperse 
others brought into antagonistic existence without authority ; 
both inflamed by the most exciting of questions, and both 
committing outrages which all good men must deplore, re- 
quired neither hesitation nor fear^ 

" I am most happy to inform you that in order to calm 
these disturbing elements, and briog the people back to sober 
reason, I have not been obliged to resort to any measures un- 
known to the law, and not covered by the spirit and letter of 
my instructions. It is also a matter of special gratification to 
be able to say, that since my arrival here, peace has been re- 
stored and the fierce passions of men soothed, without the 
shedding of one drop of fratricidal blood. 

'' The peace of the territory is now placed upon a perma- 
nent basis, all parties having at length relinquished the idea 
of a resort to arms, and agreeing to refer the adjustment of 
all political disputes to the ballot box or other lawful expedi- 
ents/' 

Such was the condition of things until the Sherrard dis- 
turbances, which were confined to the town of Lecompton. 
About the time of their occurrence, Calhoun, Clarke, Emory, 
and others went to Washington, with the avowed purpose of 
so prejudicing the government against Governor Geary, as to 
make certain his removal, and soon after, reports were returned 
from them to the effect that they had been entirely successful. 
These were circulated through all the public places, and were 
boldly published in the Lecompton Union^ and very generally 
believed. Several persons had been named as the probable 
successor. During all this the governor's dispatches and let- 
ters to the outgoing and incoming administrations, defining 
the true condition of affairs, and asking for information and 
instruction, were unanswered and apparently unnoticed. 

A proper sense of honor could, therefore, dictate but one 
course, and that was to relinquish the difficult and thankless 
position which he had thus far filled with such signal success 
— with such immense benefit to the country and credit to 
himself. He, therefore, on the day of the inauguration of the 



RESIGNATION OF GOVERNOR GEARY. 291* 

new President, dispatclied tlie following letter of resignation 
5o Washington : — 

*' Executive Department, K. T., 

" Lecompton, March 4, 1857. 
*' His Excellency, James Buchanan, 

'* President of the United States. 
"Dear Sir: — Please accept my resignation as Governor of Kansas 
territory, to take effect on the 20th of the present month, by which 
time you will be enabled to select and appoint a proper successor. 
*' With high respect, your friend and obedient servant, 

"Jno. W. Geary." 

For prudential reasons the governor intended to keep the 
fiict of his resignation a secret from the people of Kansas for 
some days, and hence made it known ooly to his private secre- 
tary, who deposited the letter in the post-office, late at night, 
and a few moments before the mail closed. The postmaster's 
son, and L. A. Maclean, the latter being always in the office 
at the opening and closing of the mails, were the only persons 
then present. Yet in the morning, before he had arisen from 
bed, the subject of the governor's letter to Washington was 
the theme of universal conversation through the town. It 
was freely discussed upon the streets and in all the grog-shops, 
and was a matter of no little interest and excitement. This 
fact furnished another conclusive proof, in addition to many 
that had been constantly occurring, of the propriety of a re- 
presentation of the governor, contained in an official dispatch 
to Secretary Marcy, as far back as the 22d of September, but 
which, with many similar evils of which information had been 
given, remained unheeded. In the dispatch referred to, 
Governor Geary remarked: — 

" There is still another subject to which it is proper that I 
should call your attention. The postal arrangements of the 
territory are lamentably inefficient. Complaints on this sub- 
ject are loud and universal, and my own experience has con- 
vinced me that these are not without sufficient cause. Every 
package addressed to me through the mail is broken and in- 
spected before it reaches my hands. It is entirely unsafe to 
send information through the post-office, and more especially 
to use that medium to forward anything of pecuniary value. 
Postmasters are either ignorant of their duty and obligations, 
or being acquainted with them, act in violation of both. In* 
deed, I have been credibly informed that in some places, 



292 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

persons not connected with the offices, are permitted to enter 
and overhaul the mails previous to their distribution. This is 
a serious evil, upon which some prompt action is needed/' 

Governor Geary left Lecompton on the 10th of March, :ind 
reached Washington City on the 21st. Here he had inter- 
views with the president and members of the cabinet, to whom 
he personally communicated his views concerning the territory 
He found Emory, Clarke, Calhoun, and others of his worst 
enemies, who had been instrumental in doing most of the 
mischief that had disturbed the territory, so deeply ingra- 
tiated into the confidence and good opinion of these gentle- 
men, that there was no room to doubt their having good 
authority for the information they were daily furnishing their 
friends and associates in Kansas, and that he had not resigned 
his office an hour too soon. Had any doubt remained of this 
fact, and of the policy intended to be pursued by the new 
administration, it would have been removed, by the appoint- 
ments that were immediately made for the most important 
and lucrative offices in the territory. The only free-state 
democrat holding office was removed, though a man of un- 
questionable integrity — an Indian agent, though a Virginian, 
was suspected or accused of free-state proclivities, and shared 
the same fate — all the most objectionable of the incumbents 
were retained — and others even still more objectionable ap- 
pointed, — -men, in fact, who had no other recommendation 
than thei?' complicity with the worst outrages that had dis- 
graced the country! 

Governor Geary found Kansas involved in insurrection and 
civil war — he left it in the enjoyment of uninterrupted con- 
tentment, prosperity and peace. He asked to be reimbursed 
a portion of the money he had expended in the good work he 
had performed, and to be provided with a few soldiers to pre- 
serve the better state of affairs he had effected ; both of which 
were refused. Not a man was allowed to remain to protect 
even himself and household against the robber and assassin. 

Upon taking leave of the territory, Governor Geary issued 
the follnwins; : 



GOV. Geary's farewell address. 293 



^^ FAREWELL ADDRESS. 

^^ To the People of Kansas Territory : 

^' Having determined to resign the executive office, and 
retire again to tlie quiet scenes of private life and the enjoy- 
ment of those domestic comforts of which I have so long been 
deprived, I -deem it proper to address you on the occasion of 
my departure. 

" The office from which I now voluntarily withdraw, was 
unsought by me, and at the time of its acceptance, was by no 
means desirable. This was quite evident, from the deplorable 
moral, civil and political condition of the territory — the 
discord, contention and deadly strife, which then and there 
prevailed — and the painful anxiety with which it was regarded 
by patriotic citizens in every portion of the American Union. 
To attempt to govern Kansas at such a period and under such 
circumstances, was to assume no ordinary responsibilities. Few 
men could have desired to undertake the task, and none would 
have been so presumptuous, without serious forebodings as to 
the result. That I should have hesitated, is no matter of 
astonishment to those acquainted with the facts ] but that I 
accepted the appointment, was a well-grounded source of 
regret to many of my well-tried friends, who looked upon the 
enterprise as one that could terminate in nothing but disaster 
to myself. It was not supposed possible that order could be 
brought, in any reasonable space of time, and with the means 
at my command, from the then existing chaos. 

" Without descanting upon the feelings, principles and 
motives which prompted me, suffice it to say, that I accepted 
the president's tender of the office of governor. In doing so, 
I sacrificed the comforts of a home, endeared by the strongest 
earthly ties and most sacred associations, to embark in an 
undertaking which presented at the best but a dark and 
unsatisfactory prospect. I reached Kansas and entered upon 
the discharge of my official duties in the most gloomy hour of 
her history. Desolation and ruin reigned on every hand. 
Homes and firesides were deserted. The smoke of burning 
dwellings darkened the atmosphere. Women and children, 
driven from their habitations, wandered over the prairies and 
through the woodlands, or sought refuge and protection even 
among the Indian tribes. The highwavs were infested with 
25* 



294 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

numerous predatory bands, and the towns were fortified and 
garrisoned by armies of conflicting partisans, each excited 
ahnost to frenzy, and determined upon mutual extermination. 
Such was, without exaggeration, the condition of the territory, 
at the period of my arrival. Her treasury was bankrupt. 
There were no pecuniary resources within herself to meet the 
exigencies of the time. The congressional appropriations, 
intended to defray the expenses of a year, were insufficient 
to meet the demands of a fortnight. The laws were null, the 
courts virtually suspended, and the civil arm of the government 
almost entirely powerless. Action — prompt, decisive, energetic 
action — was necessary. I at once saw what was needed, and 
without hesitation gave myself to the work. For six months 
I have labored with unceasing industry. The accustomed 
and needed hours for sleep have been employed in the public 
service. Night and day have official duties demanded unre- 
mitting attention. I have had no proper leisure moments for 
rest or recreation. My health has failed under the pressure. 
Nor is this all; to my own private purse, without assurance of 
reimbursement, have I resorted in every emergency, for the 
required funds. Whether these arduous services and willing 
sacrifices have been beneficial to Kansas and my country, you 
are abundantly qualified to determine. 

" That I have met with opposition, and even bitter vitupe- 
ration and vindictive malice, is no matter for astonishment. 
No man has ever yet held an important or responsible post in 
our own or any other country and escaped censure. I should 
have been weak and foolish indeed, had I expected to pass 
through the fiery ordeal entirely unscathed, especially as I was 
required, if not to come in conflict with, at least to thwart evil 
machinations, and hold in restraint wicked passions, or rid the 
territory of many lawless, reckless and desperate men. Beside, 
it were impossible to come in contact with the conflicting 
interests which governed the conduct of many well-disposed 
persons, without becoming an object of mistrust and abuse. 
While from others, whose sole object was notoriously personal 
advancement at any sacrifice of the general good and at every 
hazard, it would have been ridiculous to anticipate the meed 
of praise for disinterested action ; and hence, however palpable 
might have been my patriotism, however just my official 
conduct, or however beneficial its results, I do not marvel that 
my motives have been impugned and my integrity maligned. 
It iS; however^ so well known^ that I need scarcely record the 



GOV. Geary's farewell address. 295 

fact, that those who have attributed my labors to a desire for 
gubernatorial or senatorial honors, were and are themselves 
the aspirants for those high trusts and powers, and foolishly 
imagined that I stood between them and the consummation of 
their ambitious designs and high-towering hopes. 

'' But whatever may be thought or said of my motives or 
desires, I have the proud consciousness of leaving this scene 
of my severe and anxious toil with clean hands, and the 
satisfactory conviction that He who can penetrate the inmost 
recesses of the heart, and read its secret thoughts, will approve 
my purposes and acts. In the discharge of my executive 
functions, I have invariably sought to do equal and exact 
justice to all men, however humble or exalted. I have 
eschewed all sectional disputations, kept aloof from all party 
affiliations, and have alike scorned numerous threats of personal 
injury and violence, and the most flattering promises of 
advancement and reward. And I ask and claim nothing more 
for the part I have acted than the simple merit of having 
endeavored to perform my duty. This I have done, at all 
times, and upon every occasion, regardless of the opinions of 
men, and utterly fearless of consequences. Occasionally 1 have 
been forced to assume great responsibilities, and depend solely 
upon my own resources to accomplish important ends ; but in 
all such instances, I have carefully examined surrounding 
circumstances, weighed well the probable results, and acted 
upon my own deliberate judgment; and in now reviewing 
them, I am so well satisfied with the policy uniformly pursued, 
that w^re it to be done over again^ it should not be changed 
in the slightest particular. 

'"' In parting with you, I can do no less than give you a few 
words of kindly advice, and even of friendly warning. You 
are well aware that most of the troubles which lately agitated 
the territory, were occasioned by men who had no especial 
interest in its welfare. Many of them were not even residents ; 
whilst it is quite evident that others were influenced altogether 
in the part they took in the disturbances by mercenary or 
other personal considerations. The great body of the actual 
citizens are conservative, law-abiding and peace-loving men, 
disposed rather to make sacrifices for conciliation and conse- 
quent peace, than to insist for their entire rights should the 
general good thereby be caused to sufi'er. Some of them, 
under the influence of the prevailing excitement and misguided 



296 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

opinions, were led to the commission of grievous mistakes, but 
not with the deliberate intention of doing wrong. 

" A very few men, resolved upon mischief, may keep in a 
state of unhealthy excitement and involve in fearful strife an 
entire community. This was demonstrated during the civil 
commotions with which the territory was convulsed. While 
the people generally were anxious to pursue their peaceful 
callings, small combinations of crafty, scheming and designing 
men succeeded, from purely selfish motives, in bringing upon 
them a series of most lamentable and destructive difficulties. 
Nor are they satisfied with the mischief already done. They 
never desired that the present peace should be effected ; nor 
do they intend that it shall continue if they have the power 
to prevent it. In the constant croakings of disaffected indi- 
viduals in various sections, you hear only the expressions of 
evil desires and intentions. Watch, then, with a special, 
jealous and suspicious eye those who are continually indulging 
surmises of renewed hostilities. They are not the friends of 
Kansas, and there is reason to fear that some of them are not 
only the enemies of this territory, but of the Union itself. Its 
dissolution is their ardent wish, and Kansas has been selected 
as a fit place to commence the accomplishment of a most 
nefarious design. The scheme has thus far been frustrated ; 
but it has not been abandoned. You are intrusted, not only 
with the guardianship of this territory^ but the peace of the 
Union, which depends upon you in a greater degree than you 
may at present suppose. 

" You should, therefore, frown down every effort to foment 
discord, and especially to array settlers from different sections 
of the Union in hostility against each other. All true patriots, 
whether from the north or south, the east or west, should 
unite together for that which is and must be regarded as a 
common cause, the preservation of the Union ; and he who 
shall whisper a desire for its dissolution, no matter what may 
be his pretensions, or to what faction or party he claims to 
belong, is unworthy of your confidence, deserves your strongest 
reprobation, and should be branded as a traitor to his country. 
There is a voice crying from the grave of one whose memory 
is dearly cherished in every patriotic heart, and let it not cry 
in vain. It tells you that this attempt at dissolution is no 
new thing; but that, even as early as the days of our first 
president, it was agitated by ambitious aspirants for place and 
power. And if the appeal of a still more recent hero and 



GOV. Geary's farewell address. 297 

patriot was needed in his time, liow mucli more applicable is 
it now, and in this territory ! 

'' ' The possible dissolution of the Union/ he says, ' has at 
length become an ordinary and familiar subject of discussion. 
Has the warning voice of \Yashington been forgotten ? or have 
designs already been formed to sever the Union ? Let it not 
be supposed that I impute to all of those who have taken an 
active part in these unwise and unprofitable discussions, a want 
. of patriotism or of public virtue. The honorable feelings of 
state pride and local attachments find a place in the bosoms 
of the most enlightened and pure. But while such men are 
conscious of their own integrity and honesty of purpose, they 
ought never to forget that the citizens of other states are their 
political brethren ; and that, however mistaken they may be in 
their views, the great body of them are equally honest and 
upright with themselves. 3Iutual suspicions and reproaches 
may, in time, create mutual hostility, and artful and designing 
men will always be found who are ready to foment these fatal 
divisions, and to inflame the natural jealousies of different 
sections of the country. The history of the world is full of 
such examples, and especially the history of republics/ 

^^ When I look upon the present condition of the territory, 
and contrast it with what it was when I first entered it, I feel 
satisfied that my administration has not been prejudicial to its 
interests. On every hand, I now perceive unmistakable indi- 
cations of welfare and prosperity. The honest settler occupies 
his quiet dwelling, with his wife and children clustering 
around him, unmolested, and fearless of danger. The solitary 
traveller pursues his way unharmed over every public thorough- 
fare. The torch of the incendiary has been extinguished, and 
the cabins which were destroyed, have been replaced by more 
substantial buildings. Hordes of banditti no longer lie in 
wait in every ravine for plunder and assassination. Invasions 
of hostile armies have ceased, and infuriated partisans, living 
in our midst, have emphatically turned their swords into 
ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks. Laborers 
are everywhere at work — farms are undergoing rapid improve- 
ments — merchants are driving a thriving trade, and mechanics 
pursuing with profit their various occupations. Real estate, 
in town and country, has increased in value almost without 
precedent, until in some places it is commanding prices that 
never could have been anticipated. Whether this healthy 
and happy change is the result solely of my executive labors, 



298 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

or not, it certainly Ifks occurred during my administration. 
Upon yourselves must mainly depend the preservation and 
perpetuity of the present prosperous condition of affairs. 
Guard it with unceasing vigilance, and protect it as you would 
your lives. Keep down that party spirit, which, if permitted 
to obtain the mastery, must lead to desolation. Watch closely, 
and condemn in its infancy, every insidious movement that 
can possibly tend to discord and disunion. Suffer no local 
prejudices to disturb the prevailing harmony. To every appeal 
to these, turn a deaf ear, as did the Saviour of men to the 
promptings of the deceiver. Act as a united band of brothers, 
bound together by one common tie. Your interests are the - 
same, and by this course alone can they be maintained. Follow 
this, and your hearts and homes will be made light and happy 
by the richest blessings of a kind and munificent Providence. 

^/ To you, the peaceable citizens of Kansas, I owe my 
grateful acknowledgments for the aid aod comfort your kind 
assurances and hearty co-operation have afforded in many dark 
and trying hours. You have my sincerest thanks, and my 
earnest prayers that you may be abundantly rewarded of 
Heaven. 

^^ To the ladies of the territory — the wives, mothers, sisters 
and daughters of the honest settlers — I am also under a weight 
of obligation. Their pious prayers have not been raised in vain, 
nor their numerous assurances of confidence in the policy of 
my administration failed to exert a salutary influence. 

'* And last, .though not the least, I must not be unmindful 
Df the noble men who form the military department of the 
west. To General Persifer F. Smith and the officers acting 
under his command, I return my thanks for many valuable 
services. Although from different parts of the Union, and 
naturally imbued with sectional prejudices, I know of no 
instance in which such prejudices have been permitted to 
stand in the way of a faithful, ready, cheerful and energetic 
discharge of duty. Their conduct in this respect is worthy of 
universal commendation, and presents a bright example for 
those executing the civil power. The good behavior of all the 
soldiers who were called upon to assist me, is, in fact, deserving 
of especial notice. Many of these troops, officers and men, 
had served with me on the fields of Mexico against a foreign 
foe, aod it is a source of no little satisfaction to know that the 
laurels there won have been further adorned by the praise- 



THE MURDERER OF HOPPE. 299 

wortliy alacrity with which they aided to allay a destructive 
fratricidal strife at home. 

'' With a firm reliance in the protecting care and overruling 
providence of that Grreat Being who holds in his hand the 
destinies alike of men and of nations, I bid farewell to Kansas 
and her people, trusting that whatever events may hereafter 
befall them, they will, in the exercise of His wisdom, goodness 
and power, be so directed as to promote their own best 
interest and that of the beloved country of which they are 
destined to form a most important part. 

'' Jno. W. Geary. 

'•Lecompton^ March 10^ 1857.^^ 



CHAPTER XLIY. 

Election of a free-state mayor at Leavenworth. — Arrest of the murderer 
of Hoppe. — Resignation of Judge Cunningham. — Appointment of Judge 
Williams. — Removal of Judge Lecompte. — Taking of the census. — Hon. 
Robert J. W^alker. 

Wm. E. Murphy, mayor of Leavenworth, having been ap- 
pointed agent for the Potawattomie Indians, an election was 
held in that city, and H. J. Adams, a free-state candidate, was 
elected by a large majority of the inhabitants. This was 
about the first election held in that place upon which no unfair 
influences were brought to bear, and with which invaders from 
the opposite side of the river did not attempt to interfere. 
Mr. Adams entered upon the duties of his office with consid- 
erable energy, and by his prompt, decisive, and just action, 
soon gained the confidence and respect of all classes of the 
peaceably disposed citizens. One of his first important acts was 
the arrest of the murderer of Mr. Hoppe, the following account 
of which was furnished by a resident of Leavenworth City to 
the Missouri Democrat, under date of 27th of May : — 

'' Early yesterday morning, the mayor of this city received 
information that Fugitt was on board of a steamer lying at the 
levee. An officer was called, a writ placed in his hands, and 
with a posse he went to the steamer and found Fugitt locked 
in his stat^-room. The door was forced open, and Fugitt was 
asked his name. He replied that it was ' Jones.' He tried 



300 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

to make Hs escape, but was not successful. The officer ar- 
rested him, and the prisoner was conveyed to the court-room, 
where an effort was made to have him released on bail, by his 
counsel ; but Judge Lecompte refused, and gave the marshal 
orders to ascertain whether he could place him in confinement 
at the fort; if not, to put him in chains and imprison him in 
the town jail, to which he was conveyed, and a guard placed 
over him, a large chain fastened to his feet, and to a ring in 
the floor of his cell the wretched man was fastened. 

^^ This Fugitt is a young man, about twenty- five years of 
age, well dressed, a bad look about his face. 1 have just re- 
turned from a visit to the cell where he is confined. The iron 
door and grating was swung back by the keeper, and in com- 
pany with a member of the press, I entered a damp, dark 
room, with a few small holes in each side to admit the air and 
light. The inmate was upon the bed ; he arose as we entered, 
and commenced smoking. Yesterday he was very talkative 
with those who called upon him ; this morning he would say 
but little. He protests that he is innocent of the crime al- 
leged against him in the indictment. He is confined in the 
same room in which the E.ev. E. Nute, of Lawrence, was im- 
prisoned by Emery's gang, last summer, during the difficulties, 
and which he has so accurately described in several of the 
eastern journals. 

^' Fugitt is the same person who made a bet in this city last 
August, that before night he would have a Yankee scalp. He 
got a horse and rode out into the country a few miles, and 
met a German, a brother-in-law of the Rev. E. Nute, named 
Hoppe. He asked if he was from Lawrence. Hoppe replied 
that he was. Fugitt immediately levelled his revolver and 
fired, the shot taking effect in the temples, and Hoppe fell 
a corpse. The assassin dismounted from his horse, cut the 
scalp from the back of his head, tied it to the end of a pole, 
and returned to town, exhibiting it to the people, and boasting 
of his exploit. The body of the victim was found shortly after, 
and buried on ^ Pilot Knob,' about two miles distant from 
this city. This same Fugitt was one of the party who, when 
the widow came from Lawrence to look for her husband's 
corpse, forced her on board of a steamer, and sent her down the 
river. Now, the assassin is in safe keeping, there is hope of 
justice being meted out to him, and that he will soon suffer 
for his crime on the gallows. He is to be arraigned for trial 
before Judge Lecompte, on Monday next. A packed jury 



JUDGE THOMAS CUNNINGHAM. 801 

may bring in a verdict of not guilty; but even then lie is in 
danger of punishment. His murderous deeds were too public, 
and there are too many who saw him at the time and heard 
his boasting, to have him escape for the want of evidence. A 
gentleman now living in this city saw him exhibiting four 
scalps at one time, during the troubles of last summer. His 
trial will be watched with a great deal of interest by the 
people. 

" The city marshal last night arrested, and locked up in jail, 
Deputy-Sheriff David Brown, of this county, for drunkenness. 
Leavenworth is fast becoming an orderly and well-governed 

As Fugitt has no personal friends of influence in the terri- 
tory ; as the evidences of his guilt are clear and positive ; and 
as it can no longer be a matter of policy for his former asso- 
ciates to screen or protect him, his conviction and punishment 
are 'considered as certain. If this be so, he will be the first 
of the hundreds of murderers who will suffer the just penalty 
of the violated law. 

Thomas Cunningham, Esq., who had been appointed to fill 
the vacancy occasioned by the death of the associate justice 
of the territory, reached Kansas in January, and remained 
there during the session of the Legislative Assembly, ac- 
quainting himself thoroughly with the true condition of the 
country and of his prospects for usefulness in that field of judi- 
cial labor. Judge Cunningham was from Beaver county, 
Pennsylvania 3 has been during his whole life an active mem- 
ber of the democratic party, and was one of the electors for 
Mr. Buchanan, in the late presidential canvass. He is a gen- 
tleman of superior legal attainments and unquestioned integ- 
rity ; frank and fearless in the expression of his opinions, and 
manly and courteous in his whole deportment. He was not 
slow to discover the cause of the past and existing difficulties, 
and the course of conduct that exigencies demanded him to . 
pursue. The inefficiency of his associates was apparent, as 
well from their want of proper legal knowledge as their parti- 
san affiliations and complication with the disturbances that had 
distracted the territory. Determined to avoid the rock upon 
which they had split, he marked out for himself a just and 
honorable line of conduct, and, in the prosecution of his du- 
ties, resolved to recognise no local party, but to hold the scales 
of justice with an even hand ; in conforming to which reso- 
lution, he refused to identify himself with the pro-slavery fac- 
26 



802 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

tion that assumed the name of the ^^ National Democracy/' or 
be present at any of its meetings. He, therefore, failed to 
meet the approbation of the Legislature, who, in apportioning 
him a district, took care to assign him a position which they 
felt assured he would not accept, as he could not occupy it with 
satisfaction to himself or benefit to the people. After duly 
considering all the circumstances connected with his situation. 
Judge Cunningham tendered his resignation to President Bu- 
chanan, and returned, doubtless somewhat disgusted with what 
he had learned, to his former home. Judge Joseph Williams, 
formerly of Pennsylvania, but more recently of Iowa, has been 
appointed his successor. This gentleman also sustains an 
honorable reputation, and the people of Kansas may reasona- 
bly expect from him, in his official capacity, the exercise of 
even-handed justice. 

The removal of Chief Justice Lecompte has at length been 
determined upon by the president. This fact will give satis- 
faction to the citizens of all parties who sincerely desire the 
continued peace and prosperity of the territory. 

A writer for the Missouri Democrat, under date of Leaven- 
worth, May 28th, gives the following description of the 
manner in which the census has been taken, and the names of 
the delegates chosen from the Leavenworth district for the 
constitutional convention : — 

^^ The ^ National Democrats,' so called, i. e. rabid pro-slavery 
faction of this district, have met in convention, and made a 
selection of the following persons to be their nominees for 
delegates to the constitutional convention which is to meet at 
Lecompton in September next: 

^^ John D. Henderson, editor of The Journal; Gen. Eastin, 
editor of The Herald; Hugh M. Moore, Jared Todd, Capt. 
Bill Martin, Gov. Robinson's jailor last May in this city; 
Joseph Hall, county commissioner ; James Doniphan of 
Leavenworth; Gov. Wm. Walker, Wyandott; S. J. Cookagey, 
Easton; William Christianson, Delaware City; G. B. Redman, 
Delaware City, and one vacancy. The census-taker returned 
the names of 1837 as qualified voters in Leavenworth county, 
and upon those returns the governor made his apportionment, 
giving them twelve or one-fifth the members of the conven- 
tion. About one delegate to a hundred and fifty voters. The 
officials at Lecompton are free to acknowledge that several of 
the counties remain to be taken, as no returns have been re- 



HON. ROBERT J. WALKER. 803 

ceived from them. But upon the returns already made to the 
governor, he makes the apportionment, and those districts 
where the census has not been taken, can have no representa- 
tion in said convention, even if desired. These districts 
which have been overlooked by the bogus officials are free- 
state. Can there be a clearer evidence of fraud than this? 
Lawrence is supposed to be considerable of a town, and that 
it contains a goodly number of inhabitants. But the census- 
taker could only find about a dozen names in that city to put 
upon his list. There is a firm in that city, two brothers ; they 
are always attending to their business, and together. One of 
them is a free-state man^ while the other voted for Whitfield 
last fall, and he has his name upon the census lists, while the 
other has not; then the lists were not posted in accordance 
with the provisions of their own laws made for that purpose, 
and the people could not know whether their names were 
down or not.^' 

Hon. Robert J. Walker, whose name is familiar to all Amer- 
ican citizens, was appointed by the president as successor to 
Governor Geary. The Washington correspondent of the New 
York JJaily TimeSj speaks of this eminent statesman in the 
following highly commendatory manner.': — 

^^It seems to be the common supposition that Mr. Walker is 
entirely identified with the extreme southern interest, and that 
his sympathies are with the school of Davis, Toombs and oth- 
ers of the secessionist stripe. This is not the case, and scarcely 
ouo:ht to be charo-ed ao-aiost the man who was chosen to the 
United States Senate, from Mississippi, as the opponent of Mr. 
Poin dexter, in the very campaign in which the latter gentleman 
stumped the state under the palmetto flag, as the advocate of 
South Carolina nullification ! Mr. Walker's course, at that 
time, met with the approbation of every Union man through- 
out the land. His standard was the flag of the Union, which 
he wore around his waist, in which costume he denounced dis- 
union as treason, in every principal town and village of his 
adopted southern state. 

^^ Robert J. Walker, the son of Judge Walker — one of the 
judges of the Supreme Court of the United States — was born 
in Pennsylvania, and, I believe, not far from the home of Mr. 
Buchanan. He studied law under his own father, and practised 
his profession at Pittsburgh, where he married a daughter of 



804 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

Franklin Bache, of Philadelpliia, and a o^rand-daughter of 
Benjamin Franklin. The first noroination of Andrew Jackson 
for the presidency, was made by young Walker, shortly after 
he was admitted to the bar, at a convention of the Pennsylva- 
nia democracy. After his emigration to Mississippi, he became 
identified with Texan independence, but took no leading part 
in national matters until the declaration of South Carolina in 
favor of nullification had excited his zeal in behalf of the Union. 
Then succeeded the famous struggle between himself and 
Poindexter — the latter the right hand of Calhoun in Missis- 
sippi, through whom he hoped to gain over that state to the 
cause of secession, or an unconstitutional states rights extreme. 
No Mississippian will ever forget that famous canvass, nor 
ought it to go out of the memory of patriots in the north. 
Whatever may have been the real causes of complaint against 
Mr. Walker since, he did his duty then manfully, triumph- 
antly, and in a way which caused him to take his seat as an 
equal among the giants who composed the senatorial body of 
that period. 

^' Walker, in the Senate, soon became a confidential friend 
of Jackson, and took a leading part in the annexation of 
Texas ; but be it remembered by those who distrust him on 
account of his supposed pro-slavery proclivities, that he stren- 
uoudy opposed Mr, Calhoun^ s project of making all of Texas 
slave tevTitory^ and was the mai7i instrument of making the 
freedom of the soil of the northern portion of our newly ac- 
quired possessions a condition of annexation. 

^' Walker was first requested by Mr. Polk to enter his Cab- 
inet as Attorney-General, that post being deemed most in ac- 
cordance with his tastes; but subsequent events transferred 
him to the Treasury Department. He then inaugurated the 
^^ Revenue,^^ as distinguished from the ^^ Protection '^ tariff 
system, and drew up and reported the tariff of 1846. It was 
a bold measure, reducing duties more than one-half, on an 
average, and that at a tiaie when the country was involved in 
a war, and in opposition to the views of the commercial, 
moneyed and manufacturing classes. On the passage of the 
bill, Mr. Evans, Senator from Maine, and considered the finan- 
cial leader of the Whigs, declared, in his place, that the reve- 
nue of the next year would not be §12,000,000. Daniel 
Webster left a memorandum with the clerk of the Senate, 
that it would not produce §14,000,000. Abbott Lawrence, 
and the banking interests of this city and New-England, con- 



SECRETARY STANTON. 805 

sidered the policy as destructive. Walker's recorded esti- 
mate was that it would give, in the first year, §30,000,000. 
It gave S29,000,000 and some hundreds of thousands, and 
has gone on increasing until it has reached its present prodi- 
gious amount. 

^' Walker is the only cabinet officer who has had his reports 
reprinted abroad. Sir Robert Peel had them printed fcr 
the benefit of the House of Commons, and his is the honoi of 
being the only financial minister whom the world has pro^ 
duced, who has advanced government stocks, and maintained 
them above par, during a foreign war, and while it was bor- 
rowing money daily. 

^^ If this sketch sounds like a panegyric, it is because 
I have cared to present only one side, and a true one, of 
the character of a very remarkable man, who is about to 
be intrusted with the practical care of settling the most 
important question which has agitated the country for many 
years, and who, it is believed here, will do it in the interest 
of the Union, in accordance with the principles of the Kan- 
sas-Nebraska law, and if the majority (as is doubtless the 
case) of the people of Kansas are free-state men, in a way to 
secure the triumph of freedom over slavery.'' 



CHAPTER XLV. 

Arrival in Kansas of Secretary Stanton and Governor Walker. — Th© 
policy of the new administration. — Disapprobation of the pro-slavery 
party. 

Frederick P. Stanton, having been appointed secretary 
of Kansas, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the elevation of 
Mr. Woodson to the office of receiver of the Delaware land 
district, proceeded in advance of Governor Walker to the ter- 
ritory, and arrived at Lecompton on the 15th of April, where 
he took charge of the executive office as acting-governor. 

He commenced at once to inaugurate the policy of the 
newly appointed governor, agreeably to his instructions pre- 
vious to his departure from Washington. Mr. Stanton issued 
an address defining that policy, all the features of which will 
be found in the Inaugural of Grovernor Walker, which, not- 
26* U 



306 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

withstanding its great length, is considered of sufficient im- 
portance to receive a place in the appendix to this work. 
The first important official act of the secretary, was to make 
an apportionment of delegates to the convention to frame a 
state constitution agreeably to the bill adopted by the late 
Legislative Assembly. This was done from the notoriously 
unfair and partial returns of the census takers. These returns 
might, with propriety, have been repudiated by the acting- 
governor, as the provisions of the census law had not been 
observed. This fact is sufficient to condemn the constitution 
that may be framed by the convention to be elected from the 
census returns and the apportionment of delegates made by 
Mr. Stanton. 

Governor Walker reached Leavenworth City on the 25th of 
May, and was received by a large concourse of citizens. A 
few days afterwards, having visited Lawrence, he issued his 
Inaugural Address at Lecompton. This document was in- 
tended to conciliate both the prominent political parties, but 
it has failed to give satisfaction to either, and the Kansas dif- 
ficulties are as far as ever from being amicably adjusted. The 
free-state people have no confidence in the assurance that the 
pro-slavery party will permit them to give, through the ballot- 
box, a fair expression of their wishes, or that the constitution 
to be framed by the convention to be chosen in June, will be 
submitted to the citizens of the territory for their ratification 
or rejection. This proposition had been made by Governor 
Geary to the legislature which passed the census act, and 
was indignantly rejected. Nor is the pro-slavery party willing 
to abandon the idea of forcing slavery upon Kansas, simply 
because the suggestion has been made that at some future day 
the institution may be established in the Indian Territory, and 
an equilibrium of the slave power, thus maintained. The ^ 
scheme to make Kansas a slave state is too precious to be re- 
linquished as easily as Governor Walker appears to have imag- 
ined. Hence his suggestion to refer the constitution to be 
formed back to the people, meets with the most decided con- 
demnation. The Kansas pro-slavery leaders, who promised 
the governor that they would throw no obstacles in the way 
of his peaceful administration, have lost much of their enthu- 
siastic admiration of his excellency, whilst the southern press 
have commenced to denounce his policy in terms that cannot 
be misunderstood. The Charleston Mercury concludes a 
lengthy article with the following significant paragraph : — 



GOV. WALKER AND THE SOUTHERN PRESS. 807 

'^Now we hold that the suhmitting of the constitution soon 
to be framed by the people of Kansas in convention assembled, 
back again to' the people individually, for ratification^ is a work 
of supererogation — a matter to be done or not, entirely to the 
discretion of the convention^ as a thing of contingent expedi- 
ency only, and not by any means a thing of necessity. And 
we cannot but look upon this suggestion of Mr. Stanton, how- 
ever coupled with declarations of southern feeling, and the 
determination expressed by Governor Walker, as partaking of 
the nature of official dictation, and being in fact, a violation 
of the promised neutrality — an insidious and high-minded 
breach of faith towards the south and southern men in Kansas. 
We, therefore, desire in the outset to stamp this game as it 
deserves, and to protest against all attempts to influence the 
action of the convention from without; whether coming from 
the territorial officers appointed by the president, or the free- 
soil schemers of New York and Boston. The real object and 
end is under the guise of fair words to the south to make a 
free state of Kansas.'^ 

The South, published at Richmond, Va., is no less severe 
in its expressions of disapprobation^ as may be seen from the 
following article : — 

^' Upon the new plan, which Governor Walker promulgates 
for the settlement of the Kansas difficulty, we cannot venture 
an opinion before we scrutinize it in detail. There is one point, 
however, upon which we can give an instant and emphatio 
judgment; and that is, the proposition to submit the constitu- 
tion of Kansas to a popular vote. In respect of general policy, 
such a step would inevitably involve very disastrous conse- 
quences. In the first place, it would inflame and prolong the 
controversy, and would ultimately throw Kansas into the arms 
of the abolitionists. But any discussion of the measure in re- 
gard of expediency is unnecessary and irrelevant, since the 
convention which is to frame a state constitution for Kansas is 
endowed with no authority to submit their work to the popular 
vote. The act by which the convention is assembled ascertains 
and limits its powers, and in that act there is not one word 
about submitting the constitution to the people. The conven- 
tion can do nothing for which there is not an express authority 
in the law; and as" there is neither an express nor iuiplied au- 
thority in the law to submit the constitution of Kansas to the 
vote of the inhabitants of the territoiy^ the step would be an 



308 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

illegal and invalid usurpation of power. The proposition is 
too plain to allow of controversy. Submit it to any lawyer in 
the land, from Chief Justice Taney or Reverdy Johnson to the 
poorest pettifogger in the most obscure country village, and the 
instant answer will be that the convention in Kansas has no 
right to submit the constitution to a popular vote. The jour- 
nals of the north concede the point, and declaim against the 
law calling the convention on the ground that it makes no pro- 
vision for a popular vote on the constitution. Why then does 
Governor Walker raise the question? It. is especially surpris- 
ing that he should assume an undeniably untenable position." 

There is no probability of a renewal of the civil war that 
disgraced the territory previous to the arrival there of Governor 
Geary. The recent immigration of free-state settlers has so 
swelled their numbers, that no attempt will again be made to 
drive them from the territory, coerce them into any unjust 
position, or in any way disturb them by armed forces from 
Missouri or elsewhere. It is well understood that an under- 
taking of this kind would inevitably result in a certain and 
calamitous defeat. The only ground for hope now left to the 
pro-slavery party, is in the action of the convention to meet iu 
Septcriuber next. Should the constitution framed by that body 
be rejected by Congress, as justice demands, in consequence 
of the illegality of the cooveution itself, or from any other cause, 
the Kansas difficulties will soon be settled, by the admission 
of that beautiful territory as a free state into the Union. 

Note.— The report that Judge Lecompte had been removed, ap- 
pears to have been without foundation. He still occupies the posi- 
tion of Chief Justice of Kansas. Fugitt or Fugert, charged with 
the murder and scalping of Koppe, was recentl3^tried and acquitted 
at a court over which Lecompte presided. It is certain that no pro- 
slavery offender can be convicted in Kansas under existing circum- 
stances, however heinous his crime or positive the proof of his guilt. 



APPENDIX. 



MESSxiGE OF GOV. GEARY TO THE LEGISLATIVE 
ASSEMBLY. 

Gentlemen of the Council and of tlie House of Represent- 
atives : 

The All-\Yise and beneficent Being, wlio controls alike the 
destinies X)f individuals and of nations, has perantted jou to 
convene, this day, charged with grave responsibilities. 

The eyes, not only of the people of Kansas, but of the 
entire Union, are upon you, watching with anxiety the re- 
sult of your deliberations, and of our joint action in the 
execution of the delicate and important duties devolving upon 
us. 

Selected at a critical period in the history of the country, 
to discharge the executive functions of this territory, the ob- 
ligations I was required to assume were of the most weighty 
importance. And when I came seriously to contemplate their 
magnitude, I would have shrunk from the responsibility, were 
it not for an implicit reliance upon Divine aid, and a full con- 
fidence in the virtue, zeal and patriotism of the citizens, with- 
out which the wisest executive suggestions must be futile and - 
inoperative. 

To you, legislators, invested with sovereign authority, I 
look for that hearty co-operation which will enable us success- 
fully to guide the ship of state through the troubled waters, 
into the haven of safety. 

It is with feelings of profound gratitude to Almighty God, 
the bounteous Giver of all good, I have the pleasure of an> 
nouncing, that after the bitter contest of opinion through 

(309) 



310 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

which we have recently passed, and which has unfortunately 
led to fratricidal strife, that peace, which I have every reason 
to believe to be* permanent, now reigns throughout the terri- 
tory, and gladdens, with its genial influences, homes and hearts 
which but lately were sad and desolate ; that the robber and 
the murderer have been driven from our soil ; that burned 
cabins have been replaced by substantial dwellings; that a 
feeling of confidence and kindness has taken the place of dis- 
trust and hate ; that all good citizens are disposed to deplore 
the errors and excesses of the past, and unite with fraternal 
zeal in repairing its injuries; and that this territory, unsur- 
passed by any portion of the continent for the salubrity of its 
climate and the fertility of its soil ; its mineral and agricul- 
tural wealth ; its timber-fringed streams and fine quarries of 
building stone; has entered upon a career of unparalleled 
prosperity. 

To maintain the advance we have made, and realize the 
bright anticipations of the future ; to build up a model com- 
monwealth, enriched with all the treasures of learning, of vir- 
tue and religion, and make it a choice heritage for our chil- 
dren and generations yet unborn, let me, not only as your 
executive, but as a Kansan, devoted to the interests of Kansas, 
and animated solely by patriotic purposes, with all earnestness 
invoke you, with one heart and soul, to pursue so high and 
lofty a course in your deliberations, as, by its moderation and 
justice, will commend itself to the approbation of the country, 
and command the respect of the people. 

This being the fi^'st occasion offered me to speak to the Leg- 
islative Assembly, it is but proper, and in accordance with 
general usage, that I should declare the principles which shall 
give shape and tone to my administration. These principles, 
without elaboration, I will condense into the narrowest com- 
pass. 

'' Equal and exact justice'' to all men, of whatever political 
*or religious persuasion; peace, comity and friendship with 
neighboring states and territories, with a sacred regard for state 
rights, and reverential respect for the integrity and perpetuity 
of the Union ; a reverence for the federal constitution as the 
concentrated wisdom of the fathers of the republic, and the 
very ark of our political safety; the cultivation of a pure and 
energetic nationality, and the development of an excellent and 
intensely vital patriotism; a jealous regard for the elective 
franchise,, and the entire security and sanctity of the ballot- 



GOVERNOR Geary's message. 311 

box ; a firm determination to adhere to the doctrines of self- 
government and popular sovereignty as guaranteed by the Or- 
ganic Law; unqualified submission to the will of the majority; 
the election of all officers by the people themselves ; the su- 
premacy of the civil over the military power ; strict economy 
in public expenditures, with a rigid accountability of all pub- 
lic officers; the preservation of the public faith, and a cur- 
rency based upon, and equal to, gold and silver; free and safe 
immigration from every quarter of the country; the cultiva- 
tion of the proper territorial pride, with a firm determination 
to submit to no invasion of our sovereignty; the fostering care 
of agriculture, manufactures, mechanic arts, and all works of 
internal improvement ; the liberal and free education of all 
the children of the territory ; entire religious freedom ; a free 
press, free speech, and the peaceable right to assemble and 
discuss all questions of public interest; trial by jurors impar- 
tially selected ; the sanctity of the habeas corpus ; the repeal 
of all laws inconsistent with the Constitution of the United 
States and the Organic Act, and the steady administration of 
the government so as best to secure the general welfare. 

These sterling maxims, sanctioned by the wisdom and expe- 
rience of the past, and the observance of which has brought 
our country to so exalted a position among the nations of the 
earth, will be steady lights by which my administration shall 
be guided. 

A summary view of the state of the territory upon my ad- 
vent, with an allusion to some of my official acts, may not be 
inappropriate to this occasion, and may serve to inspire 
your counsels with that wisdom and prudence, by a contem- 
plation of the frightful excesses of the past, so essential to the 
adoption of measures to prevent their recurrence, and enable 
you to lay the broad and solid foundations of a future common- 
wealth which may give protection and happiness to millions of 
freemen. 

It accords not with my policy or intentions to do the least 
injustice to any citizen or party of men in this territory or 
elsewhere. Pledged to do '^ equal and exact justice" in my 
executive capacity, I am inclined to throw the veil of oblivion 
over the errors and outrages of the period antecedent to my 
arrival, except so far as reference to them may be necessary 
for substantial justice, and to explain and develope the policy 
which has shed the benign influences of peace upon Kansas, 
and which, if responded to by the legislature iif a spirit of 



312 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

kindness and conciliation, will contribute mucli to soothe those 
feelings of bitterness and contention, which in the past brought 
upon us such untold evils. 

I arrived at Fort Leavenworth on the ninth day of Septem- 
ber last; and immediately assumed the executive functions. 
On the eleventh I issued my inaugural address, declaring the 
<= general principles upon which I intended to administer the 
government. In this address I solemnly pledged myself to 
support the Constitution of the United States, and to discharge 
my duties as Governor of Kansas with fidelity; to sustain all 
the provisions of the Organic Act, which I pronounced to be 
^^ eminently just and beneficial;'^ to stand by the doctrine of 
popular sovereignty, or the will of the majority of the actual 
hona fide inhabitants, when legitimately expressed, which I 
characterized '^ the imperative rule of civil action for every 
law-abiding citizen.'' The gigantic evils under which this 
territory was groaning were attributed to outside influences, 
and the people of Kansas were earnestly invoked to suspend 
unnatural strife; to banish all extraneous and improper influ- 
ences from their deliberations; and in the spirit of reason and 
mutual conciliation to adjust their own difl"erences. Such 
suggestions in relation to modifications of the present .statutes 
as I deemed for the public interests were promised at the 
proper time. It was declared that this territory was the 
common property of the people of the several states, and that 
no obstacle should be interposed to its free settlement, while 
in a territorial condition, by the citizens of every state of the 
Union. A just territorial pride was sought to be infused; a 
pledge was solemnly given to know no party, no section, 
nothing but Kansas and the Union; and the people were 
earnestly invoked to bury the past in oblivion, to suspend hos- 
tilities and refrain from the indulgence of bitter feeling; to 
begin anew; to devote themselves to the true and substantial 
interests of Kansas; develope her rich agricultural resources; 
build up manufactures; make public roads and other works of 
internal improvement; prepare amply for the education of 
their children ; devote themselves to all the arts of peace, and 
make this territory the sanctuary of those cherished principles 
which protect the inalienable rights of the individual, and 
elevate states in their sovereign capacities. 

The foregoing is a brief summary of the principles upon 
which my administration was commenced. I have steadily 



GOVERNOR Geary's message. ai3 

adhered to fhem, and time and trial have but served to strengthen 
my convictions of their justice. 

Coincident with my inaugural were issued two proclama- 
tions, the one, disbanding the territorial militia, composed of 
a mixed force of citizens and others, and commanding '^ all 
bodies of men, combined, armed and equipped with munitions 
of war, without authority of the government, instantly to dis- 
band or quit the territory, as they would answer the contrary 
at their peril/' The other, ordering ^^ all free male citizens 
qualified to bear arms, between the ages of eighteen and forty- 
five years, to enrol themselves, that they might be completely 
organized by companies, regiments, brigades and divisions, and 
hold themselves in readiness to be mustered, by my order, into 
the service of the United States, upon a requisition of the 
commander of the military department in which Kansas is 
embraced, for the suppression of all unlawful combinations, 
and for the maintenance of public order and civil government/' 

The policy of these proclamations is so evident, and their 
beneficial efi'ects have been so apparent, as to require no vindi- 
cation. 

The territory was declared by the acting- governor to be in a 
state of insurrection; the civil authority was powerless, — 
entirely without capacity to vindicate the majesty of the law 
and restore the broken peace; the existing difficulties were of 
a far more complicated character than I had anticipated; pre- 
datory bands, whose sole aim, unrelieved by the mitigation of 
political causes, was assassination, arson, plunder and rapine, 
had undisturbed possession of some portions of the territory, 
while every part of it was kept in constant alarm and terror 
by the advocates of political sentiments, uniting according to 
their respective sympathies, in formidable bodies of armed 
men, completely equipped with munitions of war, and resolved 
upon mutual extermination as the only hope of peace; unof- 
fending and peaceable citizens were driven from their homes; 
others murdered in their own dwellings, which were given to 
the flames; that sacred respect for woman, which has charac- 
terized all civilized nations, seemed in the hour of mad excite- 
ment to be forgotten; partisan feeling, on all sides, intensely 
excited by a question which inflamed the entire nation, almost 
closed the minds of the people against me; idle and menda- 
cious rumors, well calculated to produce exasperation and 
destroy confidence, were everywhere rife ; the most unfortunate 
suspicions prevtiiled; in isolated country places no man's life 
27 



314 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

was safe; robberies and murders were of daily occurrence; 
nearly every farm-house was deserted; and no traveller could 
safely venture on the highway without an escort. This state 
of affairs was greatly aggravated by the interference of promi- 
nent politicians outside of the territory. 

The foregoing is but a faint outline of the fearful condition 
of things which ruled Kansas and convulsed the nation. The 
full picture will be drawn by the iron pen of impartial history, 
and the actors in the various scenes will be assigned their true 
positions. 

I came here a stranger to your difificulties, without preju- 
dice, with a solemn sense of my official obligations, and with 
a lofty resolution to put a speedy termination to events so ^ 
fraught with evil, and which, if unchecked, would have floated 
the country into the most bloody civil war. 

Hesitation, or partisan affiliations, would have resulted in 
certain failure, and only served further to complicate affairs. 
To restore peace and order, and relieve the people from the 
evils under which they were laboring, it was necessary that an 
impartial, independent and just policy should be adopted, 
which would embrace in its protection all good citizens, with- 
out distinction of party, and sternly punish all bad men who 
continued to disturb the public tranquillity. Accordingly my 
inaugural address and proclamations were immediately circu- 
lated among the people, in order that they might have early 
notice of my intentions. 

On the fourteenth day of September, reliable information 
was received that a large body of armed men were marching 
to attack Hickory Point, on the north side of the Kansas 
River. I immediately dispatched a squadron of United States 
dragoonS; with instruction to capture and bring to this place 
any persons whom they might find acting in violation of my 
proclamation. In pursuance of these instructions one hun- 
dred and one prisoners were taken, brought here, and com- 
mitted for trial. 

While a portion of the army was performing this duty, I 
was advised that a large body of men was approaching the 
town of Lawrence, determined upon its destruction. I at 
once ordered three hundred United States troops to that place, 
and repaired there in person. Within four miles of Law- 
rence, I found a force of twenty-seven hundred men, consist- 
ing of citizens of this territory and other places, organized as 
territorial militia, under a proclamation of the late acting 



GOVERNOR Geary's message. 815 

governor. I disbanded this force, ordering the various com- 
panies composing it, to repair to their respective places of ren- 
dezvouS; there to be mustered out of service. Mj orders 
were obeyed ; the militia retired to their homes ; the eifusion 
of blood was prevented; the preservation of Lawrence eifected; 
and a great step made towards the restoration of peace and 
confidence. 

To recount my various official acts, following each other in 
quick succession under your immediate observation, would be 
a work of supererogation, and would occupy more space than 
the limits of an executive message would justify. My ex- 
ecutive minutes, containing a truthful history of my official 
transactions, with the policy which dictated them, have been 
forwarded to the general government, and are open to the 
inspection of the country. 

In relation to any alterations or modifications of the territo- 
rial statutes which I might deem advisable, I promised in my 
inaugural address to direct public attention at the proper 
time. In the progress of events, that time has arrived, and 
you are the tribunal to which my suggestions must be submit- 
ted. On this subject I bespeak your candid attention, as it 
has an inseparable connection with the prosperity and happi- 
ness of the people. 

It has already been remarked that the territories of the 
United States are the common property of the citizens of the 
several states. It may be likened to a joint ownership in an 
estate, and no condition should be imposed or restrictions 
placed upon the equal enjoyment of the benefits arising there- 
from, which will do the least injustice to any of the owners, 
or which is not contemplated in the tenure by which it is held, 
which is no less than the Constitution of the United States, 
the sole bond of the American Union. This being the true 
position, no obstacle should be interposed to the free, speedy 
and general settlement of this territory. 

The durability and imperative authority of a state constitu- 
tion, when the interests of the people require a state govern- 
ment, and a direct popular vote is necessary to give it sanction 
and effect, will be the proper occasion once for all, to decide 
the grave political questions which underlie a well regulated 
commonwealth. 

Let this, then, be the touch-stone of your deliberations. 
Enact no law which will not clearly bear the constitutional 
test; and if any laws have been passed which do not come up 



316 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

to this standard, it is your solemn duty to sweep them from 
the statute-book. 

The territorial government should abstain from the exercise 
of authority not clearly delegated to it, and should permit all 
doubtful questions to remain in abeyance until the formation 
of a state constitution. 

On the delicate and exciting question of slavery, a subject 
which so peculiarly engaged the attention of Congress at the 
passage of our Organic Act, I cannot too earnestly invoke you 
to permit it to remain where the Constitution of the United 
States and that act place it, subject to the decision of the 
courts upon all points arising during our present infant con- 
dition. 

The repeal of the Missouri line, which was a restriction on 
popular sovereignty, anew consecrated the great doctrine of 
self-government, and restored to the people their full control 
over every question of interest to themselves, both north and 
south of that line. 

Justice to the country and the dictates of sound policy re- 
quire that the legislature should confine itself to such subjects 
as will preserve the basis of entire equality ; and when a suf- 
ficient population is here, and they choose to adopt a state 
government, that they shall be ^' perfectly free/' without let 
or hindrance, to form all their domestic institutions " in their 
own way/' and to dictate that form of government which in 
their deliberate judgment may be deemed proper. 

Any attempt to incite servile insurrection and to interfere 
with the domestic institutions of sovereign states, is extremely 
reprehensible, and shall receive no countenance from me. 
Such intervention can result in no good, but is pregnant with 
untold disasters. Murder, arson, rapine and death follow in 
its wake, while not one link in the fetters of the slave is 
weakened or broken, or any amelioration in his condition 
secured. Such interference is a direct invasion of state rights, 
only calculated to produce irritation and estrangement. 

Every dictate of self-respect — every consideration of state 
equality — the glories of the past and the hopes of the future — 
all, with soul-stirring eloquence, constrain us to cultivate a 
reverential awe for the constitution as the sheet-anchor of our 
safety, and bid us, in good faith, to carry out all its provi- 
sions. 

Many of the statutes are excellent, and suited to our wants 
and condition, but in order that they may receive that respect 



GOVERNQR GEARY's MESSAGE. 817 

and sanction which is the vital principle of all law^ let such 
be abolished as are not eminently just and will not receive the 
fullest approbation of the people. I trust you will test them 
all by the light of the general and fundamental principles of 
our government^ and that all that will not bear this ordeal, be 
revised^ amended or repealed. To some of them which strike 
my mind as objectionable^ your candid and special attention is 
respectfully invited. 

By carefully comparing the Organic Act, as printed in the 
statutes, with a certified copy of the same from the depart- 
ment of state, important discrepancies, omissions and addi- 
tions will be discovered. I therefore, recommend the appoint- 
ment of a committee, to compare the printed statutes with the 
original rolls, on file in the secretary's office, to ascertain 
whether the same liberty has been taken with the act under 
which they were made. 

Of the numerous errors discovered by me in the copy of 
the Organic Act as printed in the statutes, I will refer to one 
in illustration of my meaning. In the 29th section, defining 
the executive authority, will be found the following striking 
omission — ^- against the laws of said territoiy, and reprieves 
for offences. ^^ This omission impairs the executive authority, 
and deprives the governor of the pardoning power for offences 
committed ^^ against the laws of the territory,'^ which Con- 
gress, for the wisest and most humane reasons, has conferred 
upon him. 

The Organic Act requires every bill to be presented to the 
governor, and demands his signature, as the evidence of his 
approval, before it can become a law. The statutes are defec- 
tive in this respect, as they do not contain the date of ap- 
proval, nor the proper evidence of that fact, by having the 
governor s signature. 

Your attention is invited to chapter 30, in relation to 
county boundaries. The boundary of Douglas county is im- 
perfect, and in connection with Shawnee county, is an absur- 
dity for both counties. The boundary lines of all the counties 
should be absolutely established. 

Chapter 44, establishing the probate court, also requires 
attention. The act is good generally, so far as it relates to 
the organization and duties of the court. But all provisions 
in this and other acts vesting the appointment of probate 
judges, county commissioners, and other public officers, in the 
Legislative Assemblv, should at once be repealed, and the un 
27* 



318 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

qualified right of election conferred upon the people, whose 
interests are immediately affected by the acts of those oflScials. 
The free and unrestricted right of the people to select all their 
own agents, is a maxim so well settled in political ethics, and 
springs so legitimately from the doctrines of self-government, 
that 1 need only allude to the question to satisfy every one of 
its justice. The "people must be perfectly free'^ to regulate 
their own business in their own way ; and when the voice of 
the majority is fairly expressed, all will bow to it as the voice 
of God. Let the people, then, rule in everything. I have every 
confidence in the virtue, intelligence, and " sober thought'^ of 
the toiling millions. The deliberate popular judgment is 
never wrong. When, in times of excitement, the popular 
mind may be temporarily obscured from the dearth of correct 
information or the mists of passion, the day of retribution and 
justice speedily follows, and a summary reversal is the certain 
result. Just and patriotic sentiment is a sure reliance for 
every honest public servant. The sovereignty of the people 
must be maintained. 

Section 15th of this act allows writs of habeas corpus to be 
issued by the probate judge, but leaves him no authority to 
hear the case and grant justice; but refers the matter to the 
'' next term of the district court.^' The several terms of the 
district court are at stated periods, and the provision alluded 
to amounts to a denial of justice and a virtual suspension of 
" the great writ of liberty,'^ contrary to the letter and spirit 
of the Constitution of the United States. 

Many provisions of chapter 66, entitled " elections,'' are 
objectionable. Section 11th, requiring certain " test oaths'' 
as pre-requisites to the right of suffrage, is wrong, unfair, and 
unequal upon citizens of different sections of the Union. It 
is exceedingly invidious to require obedience to any special 
enactment. The peculiar features of these test oaths should 
be abolished, and all citizens presumed to be law-abiding and 
patriotic until the contrary clearly appears. Sworn obedience 
to particular statutes has seldom secured that object. Justice 
will ever commend itself to the support of all honest men, and 
the surest means of insuring the ready execution of law, is to 
make it so pre-eminently just, equal and impartial as to com- 
mand the respect of those whom it is intended to affect. 

Section 36th deprives electors of the great safeguard of the 
purity and independence of the elective franchise : I mean 
the right to vote by ballot; and after the first day of Novem- 



GOYLRNOR GEARY's MESSAGE. 819 

ter, 1856j recjuires all voting to be viva voce. This provision, 
taken in connection with section 9th, which provides that " if 
all the votes ofTered cannot be taken before the hour appointed 
for closing the polls, the judges shall, by public proclamation, 
adjourn such election until the following day, when the polls 
shall again be opened, and the election continued as before/' 
&c., ofi'ers great room for fraud and corruption. Voting viva 
voce, the condition of the poll can be ascertained at any mo- 
ment. If the parties having the election officers are likely to 
be defeated, they have the option of adjourning for the pur- 
pose of drumming up votes ; or in the insane desire for vic- 
tory, may be tempted to resort to other means even more 
reprehensible. The right of voting by ballot is now in- 
corporated into the constitutions of nearly all the states, and 
is classed with the privileges deemed sacred. The arguments 
in its favor are so numerous and overwhelming that I have no 
hesitation in recommending its adoption. The election law 
should be carefully examined, and such guards thrown around 
it as will most effectually secure the sanctity of the ballot- 
box and preserve it from the taint of a single illegal vote. 
The man who will deliberately tamper with the elective fran- 
chise and dare to offer an illegal vote, strikes at the foundation 
of justice, undermines the pillars of society, applies the torch 
to the temple of our liberties, and should receive severe pun- 
ishment. As a C{ualification for voting, a definite period of 
actual inhabitancy in the territory, to the exclusion of a home 
elsewhere, should be rigidly prescribed. No man should be 
permitted to vote upon a floating residence. He should have 
resided within the territory for a period of not less than ninety 
days, and in the district where he offers to vote, at least ten 
days immediately preceding such election. All the voters 
should be registered and published for a certain time previous 
to the election. False voting should be severely punished, 
and false swearing to receive a vote visited with the pains and 
penalties of perjury. 

In this connection your attention is also invited to chapter 
92, entitled "jurors.'' This chapter leaves the selection of 
jurors to the absolute discretion of the marshal, sheriff, or 
constable, as the case may be, and affords great room for par- 
tiality and corruption. The names of all properly qualified 
citizens, without party distinction, should be thrown into a 
wheel or box, and at stated periods, under the order of the 
courts, jurors should be publicly drawn by responsible persons. 



320 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

Too many safeguards cannot be thrown around the right of 
trial by jury, in order that it may still continue to occupy that 
cherished place in the affections of the people so essential to 
its preservation and sanctity. 

Some portions of chapter 110, ^^ militia/' infringes the ex- 
ecutive prerogative, impairs the governor's usefulness, and 
clearly conflicts with the organic act. This act requires the 
executive to reside in the territory, and makes him ^^ com- 
mander-in-chief of the militia/' This power must be vested 
some place, and is always conferred upon the chief magistrate. 
Section 26 virtually confers this almost -sovereign prerogative 
^^ upon any commissioned officer,'' and permits him, '^ whenever 
and as often as any invasion or danger may come to his knowl- 
edge, to order out the militia or volunteer corps, or any part 
thereof, under his command, for the defence of the territory," 
&c. ; thus almost giving ^^ any commissioned officer" whatever, 
at his option, the power to involve the territory in war. 

Section 12th provides for a general militia training on the 
first Monday of October, the day fixed for the general election. 
This is wrong, and is well calculated to incite to terrorism. 
The silent ballots of the people, unawed by military display, 
should quietly and definitely determine all questions of public 
interest. 

The other sections of the law, requiring the appointment 
of field and commissioned officers, should be repealed. All 
officers should derive their authority directly from their re- 
spective commands, by election. To make the military system 
complete and effective, there must be entire .subordination and 
unity running from the commander-in-chief to the humblest 
soldier, and one spirit must animate the entire system. 

The 122d chapter, in relation to " patrols," is unnecessary. 
It renders all other property liable to heavy taxation for the 
protection of slave property ; thus operating unequally upon 
citizens, and is liable to the odious charge of being a system 
of espionage, as it authorizes the patrols, an indefinite number 
of whom may be appointed, to visit not only negro quarters, 
but '' any other places" suspected of unlawful assemblages of 
slaves. 

Chapter 131, "pre-emption," squanders the school fund, by 
appropriating the school sections contrary to the organic act, 
which provides " that sections numbered sixteen and thirty- 
six, in each township in Kansas Territory, shall be, and the same 
are hereby reserved for the purpose of being applied to schools in 



GOVERNOR Geary's message. 321 

said territory, and in tlie states and territories to be erected out 
of the same 3'' contravenes tlie United States pre-emption laws, 
which forbid trafficking in claims, and holding more than one 
claim ; and directs the governor to grant patents for lands be- 
longing to the United States, and only conditionally granted 
to the territory. This act is directly calculated to destroy the 
effect of a munificent grant of land by Congress for educa- 
tioQal purposes. The territory is the trustee of this valuable 
gift, and posterity has a right to demand of us that this sacred 
trust shall remain unimpaired, in order that the blessings of 
free education may be shed upon our children. 

Every state should have the best educational system which 
an intelligent government can provide. The physical, moral 
and mental faculties should be cultivated in harmonious unison, 
and that system of education is the best which will effect these 
objects. Congress has already provided for the support of 
common schools. In addition to this, I would recommend the 
Legislature to ask Congress to donate land lying in this terri- 
tory for the establishment of a university, embracing a normal, 
agricultural and mechanical school. A university, thus en- 
dowed, would be a blessing to our people; disseminate useful 
and scientific intelligence; provide competent teachers for our 
primary schools; and furnish a complete system of education 
adequate to our wants in all the departments of life. 

The subject of roads, bridges and highways, merits your 
especial attention. Nothing adds more to comfort, conve- 
nience, prosperity and happiness, and more greatly promotes 
social intercourse and kind feeling, than easy and convenient 
inter-communication. Roads should be wide and straight, 
and the various rivers and ravines substantially bridged. 

Railroads should be encouraged; and in granting charters, 
the Legislature should have in view the interests of the whole 
people. — The prosperity of the territory is intimately connected 
with the early and general construction of the rapid and satis- 
factory means of transit. -» 

While on the subject of internal improvement, I would call 
to your notice and solicit for it your serious consideration, the 
opening, at the earliest period, of a more easy means of com- 
munication with the sea-board than any we at present enjoy. 
One great obstacle to our prosperity is the immense distance 
we occupy from all the great maritime depots of the country 
by any of the routes now travelled. This can be removed by 
the construction of a railway, commencing at an appropriate 
V 



822 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

place in this territory, and running southwardly through the 
Indian Territory and Texas, to the most -eligible point on the 
Gulf of Mexico. The entire length of such a road would 
not exceed six hundred miles, much less than half the dis- 
tance to the Atlantic, and at an ordinary speed of railroad 
travel could be traversed in less than twenty-four hours. It 
would pass through a country remarkable for beauty of scenery, 
fertility of soil, and salubrity of climate, and which has pro- 
perly been styled ^Hhe Eden of the world ;^^ and would open 
up new sources of wealth superior to any that have yet been 
discovered on the eastern division of the continent. It would 
^ place Kansas, isolated as she now is, in as favorable a position 
for commercial enterprises as very many of the most populous 
states in the Union, and furnish her a sure, easy, and profit- 
able market for her products, as well as a safe, expeditious 
and economical means of obtaining all her needed supplies at 
every season of the year. You will not fail at once to perceive 
the importance of this suggestion. Not only Kansas and Ne- 
braska, but the entire country west of the Mississippi, will be 
vastly bei\efited by its adoption. The advantages to Texas 
would be incalculable. And should you be favorably impressed 
with the feasibility of the plan, I would advise that you com- 
municate, in your legislative capacity, with the legislature of 
that state, and that also of the territory of Nebraska, in re- 
gard to the most effectual measures for its speedy accomplish- 
ment. 

Chapter 149, permitting settlers to hold three hundred and 
twenty acres of land^ is in violation of the pre-emption laws, 
and leads to contention and litigation. 

Chapter 151, relating to '' slaves,'' attacks the equality 
which underlies the theory of our territorial government; and 
destroys the freedom of speech, and the privileges of public 
discussion, so essential to uncloak error, and enable the people 
properly to mould their institutions in their own way. The 
freedom of speech and the press, and the right of public dis- 
cussion upon all matters affecting the interests of the people, 
are the great constitutional safeguards of popular rights, 
liberty and happiness. 

The act in relation to a territorial library, makes the auditor 
ex-officio librarian, and gives him authority to audit his own 
accounts. These offices should be distinct, as their duties 
conflict. 

The congressional appropriation for a territorial library has 



GOYZRNOR GEARY^S MESSAGE. 323 

been expended in tlie pureliase of a very valuable collection 
of books. 

Time and space will not permit me to point out all the in- 
consistencies and incongruities found in tbe Kansas statutes. 
Passed, as they were, under tbe influence of excitement, and 
in too brief a period to secure mature deliberation, many of 
them are open to criticism and censure, and should pass under 
your careful revision^ with a view to modification or repeal. 
Some which have been most loudly complained of have never 
been enforced. It is a bad principle to suffer dead-letter laws 
to deface the statute-book. It impairs salutary reverence for 
law, and excites in the popular mind a questioning of all law, 
which leads to anarchy and confusion. The best way is to 
leave no law on the statute-book which is not uniformly and' 
promptly to be administered with the authority and power of 
the government. 

In travelling through the territory, I have discovered great 
anxiety in relation to the damages sustained during the past 
civil disturbances, and everywhere the question has been asked 
as to whom they should look for indemnity. These injuries, 
— burning houses, plundering fields, and stealing horses and 
other property, have been a fruitful source of irritation and 
trouble, and have impoverished many good citizens. They 
cannot be considered as springing from purely local causes, 
and as such, the subjects of territorial redress. Their exciting 
cause has been outside of this territory, and the agents in their 
perpetration have been the citizens of nearly every state in the 
Union. It has been a species of national warfare waged upon 
the soil of Kansas : and it should not be forgotten that both 
parties were composed of men rushing here from various 
sections of the Union; that both committed acts which no law 
can justify; and the peaceable citizens of Kansas have been 
the victims. In adjusting the question of damages, it appears 
proper that a broad and comprehensive view of the subject 
should be taken; and I have accordingly suggested to the 
general government the propriety of recommending to Con- 
gress the passage of an act providing for the appointment of a 
commissioner, to take testimony and report to Congress for 
final action, at as early a day as possible. 

There is not a single officer in the territory amenable to the 
people or to the governor ; all having been appointed by the 
Legislature, and h'olding their offices until 1857. This system 



324 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

of depriving the people of the just exercise of their rights, 

cannot be too strongly condemned. 

A faithful performance of duty should be exacted from all 
public officers. 

As the executive, I desire that the most cordial relations 
may exist between m3^self and all other departments of the 
government. 

Homesteads should be held sacred. Nothing so much 
strengthens a government as giving its citizens a solid stake 
in the country. I am in favor of assuring to every industrious 
citizen one hundred and sixty acres of land. 
• The money appropriated by Congress for the erection of our 
eapitol has been nearly expended. I have asked for an addi- 
tional appropriation of fifty thousand dollars, which will 
scarcely be sufficient to complete the building upon the plan 
adopted by the architect. 

Where crime has been so abundant, the necessity for a ter- 
ritorial penitentiary is too evident to require elaboration, and 
I have therefore suggested a congressional appropriation for 
this purpose. 

The Kansas River, the natural channel to the west; which 
runs through a valley of unparalleled fertility, can be made 
navigable as far as Fort Riley, a distance of over one hundred 
miles, and Congress should be petitioned for aid to accomplish 
this laudable purpose. Fort Riley has been built, at an ex- 
pense exceed^ig five hundred thousand dollars, with the ex- 
pectation that the river was navigable to that place, and doubt- 
less the general government will readily unite with this terri- 
tory to secure this object. 

A geological survey, developing the great mineral resources 
of this territory, is so necessary as merely to require notice. 
Provision for this useful work should immediately be made. 

T4ie early disposal of the public lands and their settlement, 
will materially advance our substantial prosperity. Great anx- 
iety prevails among the settlers to secure titles to their lands. 
The facilities for this purpose, by but one land-office in the 
territory, are inadequate to the public wants, and I have con- 
sequently recommended the establishment of two or more 
additional land-offices, in such positions as will best accommo- 
date the people. 

After mature consideration, and from a thorough conviction 
«f its propriety, I have suggested large congressional appropri- 
ations. The coming immigration^ attracted by our unrivalled 



GOVERNOR Geary's message. 825 

soil and climate, will speedily furnish the requisite population 
to make a sovereign state. Other territories have been for 
years the recipients of congressional bounty, and a similar 
amount of money and land bestowed upon them during a 
long period, should at once be given to Kansas, as, like the 
Eureka state, she will spring into full life, and the prosperity 
of the territory, and the welfare and protection of the people 
coming here from every state of the Union, to test anew the 
experiment of republican government; rec^uire ample and mu- 
nificent appropriations. 

As citizens of a territory, we are peculiarly and immedi- 
ately under the protecting influence of the Union, and, like 
the inhabitants of the states comprising it^ feel a lively inter- 
est in all that concerns its welfare and prosperity. Within 
the last few years sundry conflicting questions have been agi- 
tated throughout the country, and discussed in a spirit calcu- 
lated to impair confidence in its strength and perpetuity, and 
furnish abundant cause for apprehension and alarm. These 
questions have mostly been of a local or sectional character, 
and as such should never have acquired general significance 
or importance. All American citizens should divest them- 
selves of selfish considerations in relation to public affairs, and 
in the spirit of patriotism make dispassionate inquisition into 
the causes which have produced much alienation and bitter- 
ness among men whom the highest considerations require 
should be united in the bonds of fraternal fellowship. All 
Union-loving men should unite upon a platform of reason, 
equality and patriotism. All sectionalism should be annihi- 
lated. All sections of the Union should be harmonized under 
a national, conservative government, as during the early days 
of the republic. The value of the Union is beyond computa- 
tion, and no respect is due to those who will even dare to cal- 
culate its value. One of our ablest statesmen has wisely and 
eloquently said, '^ Who shall assign limits to the achievements 
of free minds and free hands under the protection of this glo- 
rious Union ? No treason to mankind since the organization 
of society would be equal in atrocity to that of him who would 
lift his hand to destroy it. He would overthrow the noblest 
structure of human wisdom, which protects himself and his fel- 
low man. He would stop the progress of free government, and 
involve his country either in anarchy or despotism. He would 
extinguish the fire of liberty which warms and animates the 
28 



826 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

hearts of happy millions, and invites all the nations of the 
earth to imitate our example/' 

That soldier-president, whose exploits in the field were only 
equalled by his wisdom in the cabinet, with that singular sa- 
gacity which has stamped with the seal of prophecy all his 
foreshadowings, has repudiated, as morbid and unwise, that 
philanthropy which looks to the amalgamation of the American 
with any inferior race. The white man, with his intellectual 
energy, far-reaching science, and indomitable perseverance, 
is the pecular object of my sympathy, and should receive the 
especial protection and support of government. In this ter- 
ritory there are numerous ^' Indian reserves, '^ of magnificent 
extent and choice fertility, capable of sustaining a dense civil- 
ized population, now held unimproved by numerous Indian 
tribes. These tribes are governed by Indian agents, entirely 
independent of the executive of this territory, and are, indeed, 
governments within a government. Frequent aggression upon 
these reserves are occurring, which have produced collisions 
between the Indian agents and the settlers, who appeal to me 
for protection. Seeing so much land unoccupied and unim- 
proved, these enterprising pioneers naturally question the pol- 
icy which excludes them from soil devoted to no useful or 
legitimate purpose. Impressed with the conviction that the 
large Indian reserves, if permitted to remain in their present 
condition, cannot fail to exercise a blighting influence on the 
prosperity of Kansas, and result in great injury to the Indians 
themselves, I shall be pleased to unite with the legislature 
in any measures deemed advisable, looking to the speedy ex- 
tinguishment of the Indian title to all surplus land lying in 
this territory, so as to throw it open for settlement and im- 
provement. 

For official action, I know no better rule than a conscientious 
conviction of duty — none more variable than the vain attempt 
to conciliate temporary prejudice. Principles and justice are 
eternal, and if tampered with, sooner or later the sure and in- 
dignant verdict of popular condemnation against those who 
are untrue to their leadings, will be rendered. Let us not be 
false to our country, our duty, and our constituents. The tri- 
umph of truth and principle, not of partisan and selfish 
objects, should be our steady purpose — the general welfare, 
and not the interests of the few, our sole aim. Let the past, 
which few men can review with satisfaction, be forgotten. 
Let us not deal in criminations and recriminations ; but, as 



GOVERNOR Geary's message. 827 

far as possible, let us make restitution and offer regrets for 
past excesses. The dead, wliom the madness of partisan furj 
has consigned to premature graves, cannot be recalled to life ; 
the insults, the outrages, the robberies and murders, " enough 
to stir a fever in the blood of age,'^ in this world of imperfec- 
tion and guilt, can never be fully atoned for or justly punished. 
The innocent blood, however, shall not cry in vain for redress, 
as we are promised by the great Executive of the Universe, 
whose power is almighty and whose knowledge is perfect, that 
he ^^ will repay.'' 

'^ To fight in a just cause and for our country's glory, is the 
best office of the best of men." Let '^justice be the laurel" 
which crowns your deliberations ; let your aims be purely pat- 
riotic, and your sole purpose the general welfare and the sub- 
Btantial interests of the whole people. If we fix our steady 
gaze upon the Constitution and the Organic Act as ^^ the cloud 
by day and the pillar of fire by night," our footsteps will never 
wander into any unknown or forbidden paths. Then will 
this Legislative Assembly be as a beacon light, placed high in 
the pages of our history, shedding its luminous and benign 
influence to the most remote generations ; its members will be 
remembered with veneration and respect as among the early 
fathers of the magnificent commonwealth, which, in the not dis- 
tant future, will overshadow with its protection, a population 
of freemen unsurpassed by any state in this beloved Union for 
intelligence, wealth, religion, and all the elements which make 
and insure the true greatness of a nation ; the present citizens 
of Kansas will rejoice in the benefits conferred ; the mourning 
and gloom, which too long, like a pall, have covered the people, 
will be dispersed by the sunshine of joy with which they will 
hail the advent of peace founded upon justice ; we will enter 
upon a career of unprecedented prosperity; good feeling and 
confidence will prevail; the just rule of action which you are 
about to establish, will be recognised ; the entire country, now 
watching your deliberations with momentous interest, will 
award you their enthusiastic applause; and cibove and over 
all, you will have the sanction of your own consciences, enj.oy 
self-respect, and meet with divine approbation, without which 
all human praise is worthless and unavailing. 

Jno. W. Geary. 

Lecompton, K. T., Jan. 12^ 1857. 



328 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 



INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF ROBERT J. WALKER, 
GOVERNOR OF KANSAS TERRITORY. 

Delivered in LecomptoUj Kansas Tei^ritoryj May 27, 1857. 

Fellow-citizens or Kansas : — At the earnest request of 
the President of the United States, I have accepted the posi-j. 
tion of governor of the territory of Kansas. The president, 
with the cordial concurrence of all his cabinet, expressed to 
me the conviction that the condition of Kansas was fraught 
with imminent peril to the Union, and asked me to undertake 
the settlement of that momentous question, which has intro- 
duced discord and civil war throughout your borders, and 
threatens to involve you and our country in the same common 
ruin. This was a duty thus presented, the performance of 
which I could not decline consistently with my view of the 
sacred obligation which every citizen owes to his country. 

The mode of adjustment is provided in the act organizing 
your territory — namely, by the people of Kansas, who, by a 
majority of their own votes, must decide this question for 
themselves in forming their state constitution. 

Under our practice the preliminary act of framing a state 
constitution is uniformly performed through the instrumental- 
ity of a convention of delegates chosen by the people them- 
selves. That convention is now about to be elected by you 
ander the call of the territorial legislature, created and still 
recognised by the authority of Congress, and clothed by it, in 
the comprehensive language of the Organic Law, with full 
power to make such an enactment. The territorial legislature, 
then, in assembling this convention, were fully sustained by 
the act of Congress, and the authority of the convention is 
distinctly recognised in my instructions from the President of 
the United States. Those who oppose this course cannot aver 
the alleged irregularity of the territorial legislature, whose 
laws in town and city elections, in corporate franchises, and 
on all other subjects but slavery, they acknowledge by their 
votes and acquiescence. If that legislature was invalid, then 
are we without law or order in Kansas, without town, city, or 
county organization; all legal and judicial transactions are 



GOVERNOR walker's INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 829 

void, all titles null; and anarchy reigns tbrougliout our bor- 
ders. 

It is my duty, in seeing that all constitutional laws are fairly 
executed, to take care, as far as practicable, that this elec- 
tion of delegates to the convention shall be free from fraud 
or violence, and that they shall be protected in their delibe- 
rations. 

The people of Kansas, then, are invited by the highest au- 
thority known to the constitution to participate freely and 
fairly in the election of delegates to frame a constitution and 
state government. The law has performed its entire appropri- 
ate function when it extends to the people the right of suf- 
frage, but it cannot compel the performance of that duty. 
Throughout our whole union, however, and wherever free 
government prevails, those who abstain from the exercise of 
the right of suffrage authorize those who do vote to act for 
them in that contingency, and the absentees are as much 
bound under the law and constitution, where there is no fraud 
or violence, by the aot of the majority of those who do vote, 
as although all had participated in the election. Otherwise, 
as voting must be voluntary, self-government would be im- 
practicable, and monarchy or despotism would remain as the 
only alternative. • 

You should not console yourselves, my fellow-citizens, with 
the reflection that you may, by a subsequent vote, defeat the 
ratification of the constitution. Although most anxious to 
secure to you the exercise of that great constitutional right, 
and believing that the convention is the servant, and not the 
master of the people, yet I have no power to dictate the pro- 
ceedings of that body. I cannot doubt, however, the course 
they will adopt on this subject. But why incur the hazard 
of the preliminary formation of a constitution by a minority, 
as alleged by you, when a majority, by their own votes, could 
control the forming of that instrument ? 

But it is said that the convention is not legally called, and 
that the election will not be freely and fairly conducted. The 
territorial legislature. is the power ordained for this purpose by 
the Congress of the United States; and in opposing it you 
resist the authority of the federal government. That legisla- 
ture was called into being by the Congress of 1854, and is 
recognised in the very latest congressional legislation. It is 
recognised by the present Chief Magistrate of the Union, just 
chosen by the American people^ and many of its acts are now 
28* 



330 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

in operation here by universal assent. As the governor of the 
territory of Kansas, I must support the laws and the consti- 
tution ; and I have no other alternative under my oath but 
to see that all constitutional laws are fully and fairly executed. 

I see in this act, calling the convention, no improper or un. 
constitutional restrictions upon the right of suffrage. I see 
in it no test-oath or other similar provisions objected to in re- 
lation to previous laws, but clearly repealed as repugnant to 
the provisions of this act, so far as regards the election of 
delegates to this convention. It is said that a fair and full 
vote will not be taken. Who can safely predict such a result? 
Nor is it just for a majority, as they allege, to throw the power 
into the hands of a minority, from a mere apprehension — I 
trust entirely unfounded — that they will not be permitted to 
exercise the right of suffrage. If, by fraud or violence, a 
majority should not be permitted to vote, there is a remedy, 
it is hoped, in the wisdom and justice of the convention itself, 
acting under the obligations of an oath, and a proper respon- 
sibility to the tribunal of public opinion. There is a remedy, 
also, if such facts can be demonstrated, in the refusal of Con- 
gress to admit a state into the Union under a constitution im^ 
/ posed by a minority upon a majority by fraud or violence. 
Indeed, I cannot doubt that the convention, after having 
framed a state constitution, will submit it for ratification or 
rejection, by a majority of the then actual bona fide resident 
settlers of Kansas. 

With these views, well known to the president and cabinet, 
and approved by them, I accepted the appointment of gover- 
nor of Kansas. My instructions from the president, through 
the secretary of state, under date of the 30th of March last, 
sustain '^ the regular legislature of the territory ^^ in '' assem- 
hling a convention to form a constitution'/^ and they express 
the opinion of the president that '^ when such a constitution 
shall he submitted to the people of the territory ^ they must be 
protected in the exercise of their right of voting for or against 
that instrument ; and the fair expression of the popular will 
rtiust not be interrupted by fraud or violence.^' 

I repeat, then, as my clear conviction, that unless the con- 
vention submit the constitution to the vote of all the actual 
resident settlers of Kansas, and the election be fairly and 
justly conducted, the constitution will be, and ought to be, 
rejected by Congress. 

There are other important reasons why you should partici- 



GOVERNOR walker's INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 331 

pate in the election of delegates to this convention. Karrsas 
is to become a new state, created out of the' public domain, 
and will designate her boundaries in the fundamental law. To 
most of the land within her limits the Indian title, unfortu- 
nately, is not yet extinguished, and this land is exempt from 
settlement, to the grievous injury of the people of the state. 
Having passed many years of my life in a new state, and re- 
presented it for a long period in the Senate of the United 
States, I know the serious encumbrance arising from large 
bodies of lands within a state to which the Indian title is not 
extinguished. Upon this subject the convention may act by 
such just and constitutional provisions as will accelerate the 
extinguishment of Indian title. 

There is, furthermore, the question of railroad grants made 
by Congress to all the new states but one (where the routes^ 
could not be agreed upon), and, within a few months past, to 
the flourishing territory of Minnesota. This munificent 
grant of four millions and a half of acres was made to Min- 
nesota, even in advance of her becoming a state, under the 
auspices of her present distinguished executive, and will en- 
able our sister state of the northwest speedily to unite her 
railroad system with ours. 

Kansas is undoubtedly entitled to grants similar to those 
just made to Minnesota, and upon this question the conven- 
tion may take important action. 

These, recollect, are grants by Congress, not to companies, 
but to states. Now, if Kansas, like the state of Illinois, in 
granting hereafter these lands to companies to build these 
roads, should reserve, at least, the seven per cent, of their 
gross annual receipts, it is quite certain that so soon as these 
roads are constructed, such will be the large payments into the 
treasury of our state that there will be no necessity to impose 
in Kansas any state tax whatever, especially if the constitu- 
tion should contain wise provisions against the creation of state 
debts. 

The grant to the state of Illinois for the Illinois Central 
Railroad, passed under the wise and patriotic auspices of her 
distinguished senator, was made before the pernicious system 
lately exposed in Washington had invaded the halls of Con- 
gress; and, therefore, that state, unlike most others which 
obtained recent grants, was enabled to make this great reser- 
vation for the benefit of the state. This constitutes of itself 
a conclusive reason why these railroad grants should be re 



332 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

served in the ordinance accompanying our state ccnstitution, so 
tliat our state might have the whole benefit of the grant, in- 
stead of large portions being given to agents appointed to 
obtain these grants by companies substantially in many cases 
for their own benefit, although in the name of the state. 

There is another reason why these railroad grants should 
-thus be reserved in our ordinance. 

It is to secure these lands to the state before large bodies 
of them are engrossed by speculators, especially along the 
contemplated lines of railroads. In no case should these re- 
servations interfere with the pre-emption rights reserved to 
settlers, or with school-sections. 

These grants to states, as is proved by the official docu- 
ments, have greatly augmented the proceeds of the sales of 
the public lands, increasing their value, accelerating their sale 
and settlement, and bringing enhanced prices to the govern- 
ment, whilst greatly benefiting the lands of the settler by fur- 
nishing him new markets and diminished cost of transporta- 
tion. On this subject, Mr. Buchanan, always the friend of 
the new states, in his recent inaugural, uses the following 
language : — 

'^ No nation in the tide of tirne has ever been blessed with 
so rich and noble an inheritance as we enjoy in the public 
lands. In administering this important trust, whilst it may be 
wise to grant portions of them for the improvement of the re- 
mainder, yet we should never forget that it is our cardinal policy 
to reserve the lands as much as maybe for actual settlers; and 
this at moderate prices. We shall thus not only best promote 
the prosperity of the new states, by furnishing them a hardy 
and independent race of honest and industrious citizens, but 
shall secure homes for our children and our children's children, 
as well as those exiled from foreign shores, who may seek in 
this country to improve their condition and enjoy the blessings'' 
of civil and religious liberty.'^ 

Our American railroads, now exceeding twenty-four thou- 
sand miles completed, have greatly advanced the power, pros- 
perity, and progress of the country, whilst linking it together 
in bonds of ever-increasing commerce and intercourse, and 
tending, by these results, to soften or extinguish sectional pas- 
sions and prejudice, and thus perpetuate the union of the 
states. This system it is deafly the interest of the whole country 
shall progress until the states west of the Mississippi shall be 
intersected, like those east of that river, by a network of rail- 



GOVERNOR walker's INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 833 

roads, until tlie whole, at various points, shall reach the shores 
of the Pacific. The policy of such grants by Congress is now 
clearly established; and whatever doubts may have prevailed 
in the minds of a few persons as to the constitutionality of such 
grants, when based only upon the transfer of a portion of the 
public domain, in the language of the inaugural of the presi- 
dent, '''for the improvement of the remainder, ^^ yet when they 
'are made, as now proposed in the ordinance accompanying our 
constitution, in consideration of our relinquishing the right to 
tax the public lands, such grants become, in fact^ sales for 
ample equivalents, and their constitutionality is placed beyond 
all doubt or controversy. For this reason, also, and in order 
that these grants may be made for ample equivalents, and upon 
grounds of clear, constitutional authority, it is most wise that 
they should be included in our ordinance, and take effect by 
compact when the state is admitted into the Union. If my 
will' could have prevailed as regards the public lands, as indi- 
cated in my public career, and especially in the bill presented 
\jy me, as chairman of the committee on public -lands, to the 
Senate of the United States, which passed that body, but failed 
in the House, I would authorize no sales of these lands except 
for settlement and cultivation, reserving not merely a pre-emp- 
tion, but a homestead of ^ quarter-section of land in favor of 
every actual settler, whether coming from other states or emi- 
grating from Europe. Great and populous states would thus 
rapidly be added to the confederacy, until we should soon have 
one unbroken line of states from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
giving immense additional power and security to the Union, 
and facilitating intercourse between all its parts. This would 
be alike beneficial to the old and to the new states. To the 
working men of the old states, as well as of the new, it would 
be of incalculable advantage, not merely by affording them a 
home in the west, but by maintaining the wages of labor, by 
enabling the working classes to emigrate and become cultiva- 
tors of the soil, when the rewards of daily toil should sink 
below a fair remuneration. Every new state^ besides, adds, to 
the customers of the old states, consuming their manufactures, 
employing their merchants, giving business to their vessels and 
canals, their railroads and cities, and a powerful impulse to their 
industry and prosperity. Indeed, it is the growth of the mighty 
west which has added, more than all other causes combined, to 
the power and prosperity of the whole country, whilst at the same 
timC; through the channels of business and commerce, it has 



334 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

been building up immense cities in the eastern, Atlantic, and 
middle states, and replenishing the federal treasury with large 
payments from the settlers upon the public lands, rendered of 
real value only by their labor; and thus, from increased exports, 
bringing back augmented imports, and soon largely increasing 
the revenue of the government from that source also. 

Without asking anything new from Congress, if Kansas can 
receive, on coming into the Union, all the usual grants, and 
use them judiciously, she can not only speedily cover herself 
with a network of railroads, but, by devoting all the rest to 
purposes of education, she would soon have a complete system 
of common schools, with normal schools, free academies, and a 
great university, in all of which tuition should be free to all 
our people. In that university the mechanic arts, with model 
workshops, and all the sciences should be taught, and espe- 
cially agriculture in connexion with a model farm. 

Although you ask nothing more in your ordinance than has 
been already granted to the other new states, yet in view of 
the sacrifice of life and property incurred by the people of 
Kansas, in establishing here the great principles of state and 
popular sovereignty, and thus perpetuating the Union, Con- 
gress, doubtless, will regard with indulgent favor the new state 
of Kansas, and will welcome her into the Union with joyful 
congratulations and a most liberal policy as to the public do- 
main. 

The full benefit of that great measure, the graduation and 
reduction of the price of the public lands in favor only of set- 
tlers and cultivators, so often urged by me in the Senate and 
in the Treasury Department, and finally adopted by Congress, 
should also be secured in our ordinance. Having witnessed in 
new states the deep injury inflicted upon them by large bodies 
of their most fertile land being monopolized by speculators, I 
suggest, in accordance with the public policy ever advocated 
by me, that our entire land tax, under the constitution, for 
the next twenty years should be confined exclusively to unoc- 
cupied land — whether owned by residents or non-residents — 
as one of the best means of guarding against a monopoly of 
our choice lands by speculators. I desire, in fact, to see our 
convention exercise the whole constitutional power of a state, 
to guard our rights and interests, and especially to protect the 
settlers and cultivators against the monopoly of our public do- 
main by speculators. 

As regards the school lands of the new states, the following 



GOVERNOR walker's INAUGDRAL ADDRESS. 835 

views will be found in my reports of the 8tli of December, 
1847', and 9th of December, 1848, as Secretary of the Treasury 
of the United States : 

''The recommendation contained in my last report for the'' 
establishment of ports of entry in Oregon, and the extension 
there of our revenue laws, is again respectfully presented to 
the consideration of Congress, together with donations of farms 
to settlers and emigrants, and the grant of a school section in 
the centre of every quarter of a township, which would bring 
the school-house within a point not exceeding a mile and a 
half in distance from the most remote inhabitants of such quar- 
ter township/' 

And again : 

^' My last report recommended the grant of one section of 
land for schools in every quarter township in Oregon. * * 
^ * ;ic * Congress, to some extent, adopted this recom- 
mendation by granting two school sections in each township, 
instead of one, for education in Oregon ; but it is respectfully 
suggested that even thus extended the grant is still inadequate 
in amount, whilst the location is inconvenient, and too remote 
for a school which all can attend. The subject is again pre- 
sented to the attention of Congress, with the recommendation 
that it shall be extended to California and New Mexico, and also 
to all the other new states and territories containing the public 
domain/' 

Acting upon the first of these recommendations, but not 
carrying them fully into effect, Congress doubled the school- 
section grants — an advance upon the former system. But, in 
my judgment, the benefits intended will never be fully realized 
until four school sections, instead of two, are granted in every 
township, locating the school section in the centre of every 
quarter township ; thus, by only doubling the school sections, • 
causing every section of the public domain in the new states 
to adjoin a school section, which would add immensely to the 
value of the public lands, whilst at the same time, affording an 
adequate fund not only for the establishment of common schools 
in every township, but of high schools, normal schools, and 
free academies, which, together with the five-per-cent. fund 
and university grant before referred to, would place Kansas in 
a few years, in point of science and education, in the front 
rank of the states of the American Union and of the world. 
This is a subject always regarded by me with intense interest, 
inasmuch as my highest hope of the perpetuity of our Union, 



836 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

and of the continued success of self-government, is based upon 
the progressive education and enlightenment of the people, 
enabling them fully to comprehend their own true interests, 
the incalculable advantages of our Union, the exemption from 
the power of demagogues, the control of sectional passions and 
prejudice, the progress of the arts and sciences, and the accu- 
mulation of knowledge, which is every day more and more 
becoming real power, and which will advance so much the 
great interests of our whole country. 

These noble grants for schools and education in some of the 
new states have not produced all the advantages designed, for 
want of adequate checks and guards against improvident legis- 
lation ; but I trust that the convention, by a distinct consti- ' 
tutional provision, will surround these lands with such guaran- 
tees, legislative, executive, judicial, And popular, as to require 
the combined action of the whole under the authority of the 
legislature in the administration of a fund so sacred. 

It will be observed that these school sections and the five- 
per-cent. fund, or their equivalent, have always been made 
good to the new states by Congress, whether the lands were 
sold in trust, for Indians, or otherwise. 

Upon looking at the location of Kansas, equidistant from 
north to south, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, I find, 
that, within reasonable boundaries, she would be the central 
state of the American Union. On the north lies the Ne- 
braska territory, soon to become a state; on the south the 
great and fertile Southwestern Indian Territory, soon, I hope, 
to become a state also. To the boundary of Kansas run 
nearly all the railroads of Missouri, whilst westward, north- 
ward, and southward, these routes continued through Kansas 
would connect her directly with Puget Sound, the mouth of 
the Oregon river, and San Francisco. The southern boundary 
of Kansas is but five hundred miles from the Gulf of Mexico, 
and the same railroad through the great Southwestern Indian 
Territory and Texas would connect her with New Orleans, 
with Galveston, with all the roads of Arkansas, and through 
Texas to San Francisco, and other points upon the Pacific; 
northward and eastward our lines would connect with the roads 
of Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, and the 
lakes of the north. 

It is the people of Kansas who, in forming their state con- 
stitution, are to declare the terms on which they propose to 
enter the Union. Congress cannot compel the people of a 



GOVERNOR walker's INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 337 

territory to enter the Union as a state, or change, without 
their consent, the constitution Tramed by the people. Con- 
gress, it is true, may for constitutional reasons refuse admission, 
but the state alone, in forming her constitution, can prescribe 
the terms on which she will enter the Union. This power of 
the people of a territory in forming a state constitution is one 
of vital importance, especially in the states carved out of the 
public domain. Nearly all the lands of Kansas are public 
lands, and most of them are occiipied by Indian tribes. 
These lands are the property of the federal government, but 
their right is exclusively that of a proprietor, carrying with it 
no political power. 

Although the states cannot tax the constitutional functions 
of the federal government, they may assess its real estate 
within the limits of the state. Thus, although a state cannot 
tax the federal mint or custom-houses, yet it may tax the 
ground on which they stand, unless exempted by state autho- 
rity. Such is the well-settled doctrine of the Supreme Court 
of the United States. In 1838 Judge McLean, of the Su- 
preme Court of the United States, made the following deci- 
sion : — 

^^ It is true the United States held the proprietary right 
Tinder the act of cession, and also the right of sovereignty 
until the state government was established; but the mere pro- 
prietary right, if' it exist, gives no right of sovereignty. The 
United States may own land within a state, but political juris- 
diction does not follow this ownership. Where jurisdiction is 
necessary, as for forts and arsenals, a cession of it is obtained 
from the state. Even the lands of the United States within 
the state are exempted from taxation by compact.'' 

By the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, so justly favorable to the rights and interest of the new 
states, especially those formed out of the territory acquired, 
like Kansas, since the adoption of the constitution, it is clear 
that the ownership of the public lands of such territory is 
viewed by the court exclusively as a proprietary right, carry- 
ing with it no political power or right of eminent domain, and 
affecting in no way the exercise of any of the sovereign attri- 
butes of state authority. When Kansas becomes a state, 
with all the attributes of state sovereignty coextensive with 
her limits, among these must be the taxing power, which is 
an inherent element of state authority. I do not dispute the 
title of the government to the public lands of Kansas, but I 
29 W 



338 HISTORY OF KANS.iS. 

do say that tliis right is that of an owner only, and that, when 
Kansas becomes a state, the public lands are subject to taxation by 
state authority, like those of any individual proprietor, unless 
that power is relinquished by the state in the ordinance, as- 
suming the form of a compact, by which the state is admitted 
into the Union. 

This relinquishment of the taxing power as to the public 
lands, so important to the general government, and which has 
heretofore been exacted by Congress on their own terms from 
all the new states, is deeply injurious to the state, depriving 
her almost entirely of the principal recourse of a new state by 
taxation to support her government. Now that this question 
is conclusively settled by the Supreme Court of the United 
States, as a consequence of their recent decision, it is proper 
for the state, in making this relinquishment of the right to 
tax the public lands, to annex the conditions on which she 
consents to such exemption. This should be done in the 
constitution upon terms just to Kansas and to the federal 
government. 

Should Kansas relinquish the right of taxing the public 
lands for equivalent, she should, in my judgment, although 
sustained by irresistible conclusions from the decision of the 
Supreme Court of the United States, and sound constitutional 
views of state rights, place the question in its strongest form, 
by asking nothing more than has been granted to the other 
new states, including the grants for education, railroads, &c. 
She will thus give the highest proof that she is not governed 
by sordid views, and that she means to exact nothing from 
Congress that is unjust or unusual. 

I cannot too earnestly impress upon you the necessity of 
removing the slavery agitation from the halls of Congress and 
presidential conflicts. It is conceded that Congress has no 
power to interfere with slavery in the states where it exists; 
and if it can now be established, as is clearly the doctrine of 
the constitution, that Congress has no authority to interfere 
with the people of a territory on this subject, in forming a 
state constitution, the question must be removed from con- 
gressional and presidential elections. 

This is the principle affirmed by Congress in the act organ- 
izing this territory, ratified by the people of the United States 
in the recent election, and maintained by the late decision of 
the Supreme Court of the United States. If this principle 
can be carried into successful operation in Kansas — that her 



GOVERNOR WALKER^S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 339 

people shall determine what shall be her social institutions — 
the slavery question must be withdrawn from the halls of 
Congress, and from our presidential conflicts, and the safety 
of the Union be placed beyond all peril; whereas, if the 
principle should be defeated here, the slavery agitation must 
be renewed in all elections throughout the country, with in- 
creasing bitterness, until it shall eventually overthrow the 
government. 

It is this agitation which, to European powers, presents the 
only hope of subverting our free institutions, and, as a conse- 
quence, destroying the principle of self-government through- 
out the world. It is this hope that has already inflicted deep 
injury upon our country, exciting monarchical or despotic 
interference with our domestic as well as foreign affairs, and 
inducing their interposition, not only in our elections, but in 
diplomatic intercourse, to arrest our progress, to limit our 
influence and power, depriving us of great advantages in 
peaceful territorial expansion, as well as in trade with the 
nations of the world. 

Indeed, when I reflect upon the hostile position of the 
European press during the recent election, and their exulting 
predictions of the dissolution of our Union as a consequence 
of the triumph of a sectional candidate, I cannot doubt that 
the peaceful and permanent establishment of these principles, 
now being subjected to their final test in Kansas, will terminate 
European opposition to all those measures, which must so much 
increase our conimerce, furnish new markets for our products 
and fabrics, and by conservative, peaceful progress, carry our 
flag and the empire of our constitution into new and adjacent 
regions indispensable as a part of the Union to our welfare 
and security, adding coffee, sugar, and other articles to our 
staple exports, whilst greatly reducing their price to the con- 
sumer. 

Nor is it only in our foreign intercourse that peace will be 
preserved and our prosperity advanced by the accepted fact of 
the permanence of our government, based upon the peaceful 
settlement of this question in Kansas, but at home the same 
sentiment will awaken renewed confidence in the stabihty of 
our institutions, give a new impulse to all our industry, and 
carry us onward in a career of progress and prosperity exceed- 
ing even our most sanguine expectations; a new movement of 
European capital will flow in upon us for permanent invest- 
ment, and a new exodus of the European masses, aided by the 



S40 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

pre-emption principle, carry westward tlie advancing column 
of American states in one unbroken phalanx to the Pacific. 

And let me ask you, what possible good has been accom- 
plished by agitating in Congress and in presidential conflicts 
the slavery question ? Has it emancipated a single slave, or 
improved their condition? Has it made a single state free 
where slavery otherwise would have existed? Has it accele- 
rated the disappearance of slavery from the more northern 
of the slaveholding states, or accomplished any practical 
good whatever? No, my fellow-citizens, nothing but unmiti- 
gated evil has already ensued, with disasters still more fearful 
impending for the future, as a consequence of this agitation. 

There is a law more powerful than the legislation of man — 
more potent than passion or prejudice — that must ultimately 
determine the location of slavery in this country; it is the 
isothermal line; it is the law of the thermometer, of latitude 
or altitude, regulating climate, labor, and productions, and, as 
a consequence, profit and loss. Thus, even upon the mountain 
heights of the tropics slavery can no more exist than in 
northern latitudes, because it is unprofitable, being unsuited 
to the constitution of that sable race transplanted here from 
the equatorial heats of Africa. Why is it that in the Union 
slavery recedes from the north, and progresses south ? It is 
this same great climatic law now operating for or against 
slavery in Kansas. If, on the elevated plains of Kansas, 
stretching to the base of our American Alps — the rocky 
mountains — and including their eastern crest crowned with 
perpetual snow, from which sweep over her open prairies those 
chilling blasts, reducing the average range of the thermometer 
here to a temperature nearly as low as that of New England, 
should render slavery unprofitable here, because unsuited to 
the tropical constitution of the negro race, the law above re- 
ferred to must ultimately determine that question here, and 
can no more be controlled by the legislation of man than any 
other moral or physical law of the Almighty. Especially 
must this law operate with irresistible force in this country, 
where the number of slaves is limited, and cannot be increased 
by importation, where many millions of acres of sugar and 
cotton lands are still uncultivated, and, from the ever-augment- 
ing demand, exceeding the supply, the price of those great 
staples has nearly doubled, demanding vastly more slave labor 
for their production. 

If, from the operation of these causes, slavery should not 



GOVERNOR WALKER^S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 341 

exist here, I trust it by no means follows that Kansas should 
become a state controlled by the treason and fanaticism of ab- 
lition. She has, in any event, certain constitutional duties to 
perform to her sister states, and especially to her immediate 
neighbor — the slaveholding state of Missouri. Through that 
great State, by rivers and railroads, must flow, to a great ex- 
tent, our trade and intercourse, our imports and exports. 
Our entire eastern front is upon her border ; from Missouri 
come a great number of her citizens ; even the farms of the 
two states are cut up by the line of state boundary, part in 
Kansas, part in Missouri ; her citizens meet us in daily inter- 
course ; and that Kansas should become hostile to Missouri, 
an asylum for her fugitive slaves, or a propagandist of abolition 
treason, would be alike inexpedient and unjust, and fatal to 
the continuance of the American Union. In any event, then, 
I trust that the constitution of Kansas will contain such clauses 
as will forever secure to tho state of Missouri the faithful per- 
formance of all constitutional guarantees, not only by federal, 
but by state authority, and the supremacy within our limits 
of the authority of the Supreme Court of the United States 
on all constitutional questions be firmly established. 

Upon the south Kansas is bounded by the great south- 
western Indian territory. This is one of the most salubrious 
and fertile portions of this continent. It is a great cotton 
growing region, admirably adapted by soil and climate for the 
products of the south, embracing the valleys of the Arkansas 
and Red rivers, adjoining Texas on the south and west, and 
Arkansas on the east, and it ought speedily to become a state 
of the American Union. The Indian treaties will constitute 
no obstacle any more than precisely similar treaties did in 
Kansas ; for their lands, valueless to them, now for sale, but 
which, sold with their consent and for their benefit, like the 
Indian land of Kansas, would make them a most wealthy and 
prosperous people ; and their consent, on these terms, would 
be most cheerfully given. This territory contains double the 
area of the state of Indiana, and, if necessary, an adequate 
portion of the western and more elevated part could be set 
apart exclusively for these tribes, and the eastern and larger 
portion be formed into a state, and its lands sold for the benefit 
of these tribes (like the Indian lands of Kansas), thus greatly 
promoting all their interests. To the eastern boundary of this 
region on the state of Arkansas, run the railroads of that 
gtate; to her southern limits come the great railroads from 



842 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

Louisiana and Texas, from New Orleans and Galveston, which 
will ultimately be joined by railroads from Kansas, leading 
through this Indian Territory, connecting Kansas with New 
Orleans, the Gulf of Mexico, and with the Southern Pacific 
railroad, leading through Texas to San Fransisco. 

It is essential to the true interests not only of Kansas, but 
of Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, Iowa and Missouri, and 
the whole region west of the Mississippi, that this cotermin- 
ous south-western Indian territory should speedily become a 
state, not only to supply us with cotton, and receive our pro- 
ducts in return, but as occupying the area over which that 
portion of our railroads should run which connect us with New 
Orleans and Galveston, and by the southern route with the 
Pacific. From her central position, through or connected with 
Kansas, must run the central, northern, and southern routes 
to the Pacific ; and with the latter, as well as with the Gulf, 
the connection can only be secured by this south-western ter- 
ritory becoming a state, and to this Kansas should direct her 
earnest attention as essential to her prosperity. 

Our country and the world are regarding with profound in- 
terest the struggle now impending in Kansas. Whether we 
are competent to self-government — whether we can decide 
this controversy peacefully for ourselves by our own votes, 
without fraud or violence — whether the great principles of 
self-government and state sovereignty can be carried here into 
successful operation — are the questions now to be determined, 
and upon the plains of Kansas may now be fought the last 
great and decisive battle, involving the fate of the Union, of 
state sovereignty, of self-government, and the liberties of the 
world. If, my fellow-citizens, you could, even for a brief 
^period, soften or extinguish sectional passions or prejudice, 
and lift yourselves to the full realization of the momentous 
issues intrusted to your decision, you would feel that no greater 
responsibility was ever devolved upon any people. It is not 
merely shall slavery exist in or disappear from Kansas ; but, 
shall the great principles of self-government and state sover- 
eignty be maintained or subverted. State sovereignty is 
mainly a practical principle, in so far as it is illustrated by the 
great sovereign right of the majority of the people, in forming 
a state government, to adopt their own social institutions ; and 
this principle is disregarded whenever such decision is sub- . 
verted by Congress, or overthrown by external intrusion, or by 
domestic fraud or violence. All those who oppose this principle 



GOVERNOR walker's INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 343 

are the enemies of state rights, of self-government, of the 
constitution and the Union. Do you love slavery so much, 
or hate it so intensely, that you would endeavor to establish 
or exclude it by fraud or violence, against the will of the 
majority of the people ? What is Kansas, with or without sla- 
very, if she should destroy the rights and union of the states ? 
Where would be her schools, her free academies, her colleges 
and university, her towns and cities, her railroads, farms, 
and villages, without the Union, and the principles of self- 
government ? Where would be her peace and prasperity, and 
what the value of her lands and property ? Who can decide 
this question for Kansas, if not the people themselves ? And 
if they cannot, nothing but the sword can become the arbiter. 

On the one hand, if you can and will decide peacefully this 
question yourselves, I see for Kansas an immediate career of 
power, progress, and prosperity, unsurpassed in the history of 
the world. I see the peaceful establishment of our state con- 
stitution, its ratification by the people, and our immediate ad- 
mission into the Union, the rapid extinguishment of Indian 
title, and the occupancy of those lands by settlers and culti- 
vators ; the diffusion of universal education ; pre-emptions for 
the actual settlers; the state rapidly intersected by a network 
of railroads ; our churches, schools, colleges, and university 
carrying westward the progress of law, religion, liberty, and 
civilization ; our towns, cities and villages prosperous and pro- 
gressing; our farms teeming with abundant products, and 
greatly appreciated in value ; and peace, happiness and pros- 
perity smiling throughout our borders. With proper clauses 
in our constitution, and the peaceful arbitrament of this ques- 
tion, Kansas may become the model state of the American 
Union. She may bring down upon us from north to south, 
from east to west, the praises and blessing of every patriotic 
American, and of every friend of self-government throughout 
the world. She may record her name on the proudest page 
of the history of our country and of the world, and as the 
youngest and last-born child of the American Union, all will 
hail and regard her with respect and affection. 

On the other hand, if you cannot thus peacefully decide 
this question, fraud, violence, and injustice will reign supreme 
throughout our borders, and we will have achieved the undy- 
ing infamy of having destroyed the liberty of our country and 
of the world. We will become a byword of reproach and 
obloquy ; and all history will record the fact that Kansas was 



844 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

the grave of the American Union. Never was so momentous 
a question submitted to the decision of any people; and we 
cannot avoid the alternatives now placed before us of glory or 
of shame. 

May that overruling Providence who brought our forefathers 
in safety to Jamestown and Plymouth — who watched over our 
colonial pupilage — who convened our ancestors in harmonious 
councils on the birthday of American independence — who gave 
us Washington, and carried us successfully through the strug- 
gles and perils of the revolution — who assembled, in 1787, 
that noble band of patriots and statesmen from north and 
south who framed the federal constitution — who has augmented 
our numbers from three millions to thirty millions, has car- 
ried us from the eastern slope of the Alleghanies through the 
great valleys of the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri, and now 
salutes -our standard on the shores of the Pacific — rouse in our 
hearts a love of the whole Union, and a patriotic devotion to 
the whole country. May it extinguish or control all sectional 
passions and prejudice, and enable us to conduct to a success- 
ful conclusion the great experiment of self-government now 
being made within your boundaries. 

Is it not infinitely better that slavery should be abolished or 
established in Kansas, rather than that we should become 
slaves and not permitted to govern ourselves ? Is the absence 
or existence of slavery in Kansas paramount to the great ques- 
tions of state sovereignty, of self-government, and of the Union ? 
Is the sable African alone entitled to your sympathy and con- 
sideration, even if he were happier as a freeman than as a 
slave, either here or in St. Domingo, or the British West In- 
dies or Spanish America, where the emancipated slave has 
receded to barbarism, and approaches the lowest point in the 
descending scale of moral, physical, and intellectual degradation ? 
Have our white brethren of the great American and Euro- 
pean race no claims upon our attention ? Have they no rights 
or interests entitled to regard and protection ? Shall the des- 
tiny of the African in Kansas exclude all considerations con- 
nected with our own happiness and prosperity ? And is it for 
the handful of that race now in Kansas, or that may be here- 
after introduced, that we should subvert the Union and the 
great principles of self-government and state sovereignty, and 
imbrue our hands in the blood of our countrymen ! Import- 
ant as this African question may be in Kansas, and which it 
is your solemn right to determine, it sinks into insignificance 



GOVERNOR WALKER^S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 845 

compared with the perpetuity of the Union and the final suc- 
cessful establishment of the principles of state sovereignty and 
free government. If patriotism, if devotion to the constitu- 
tion and love of the Union, should not induce the minority to 
yield to the majority on this question, let them reflect, that in 
no event can the minority successfully determine this question 
permanently, and that in no contingency will Congress admit 
Kansas as a slave or free state unless a majority of the people 
of Kansas shall first have fairly and freely decided this ques- 
tion for themselves by a direct vote on the adoption of the 
constitution, excluding all fraud or violence. The minority, 
in resisting the will of the majority, may involve Kansas again 
in civil war ; they may bring upon her reproach and obloquy, 
and destroy her progress and prosperity; they may keep her 
for years out of the Union, and, in the whirlwind of agitation, 
sweep away the government itself; but Kansas never can be 
brought into the Union with or without slavery except by a 
previous solemn decision, fully, freely, and fairly made by a 
majority of her people in voting for or against the adoption 
of her state constitution. Why, then, should this just, peace- 
ful, and constitutional mode of settlement meet with opposition 
from any quarter ? Is Kansas willing to destroy her own hopes 
of prosperity, merely that she may afford political capital to any 
party, and perpetuate the agitation of slavery throughout the 
Union ? Is she to become a mere theme for agitators in other 
states, the theatre on which they shall perform the bloody drama 
of treason and disunion ? Does she want to see the solemn acts 
of Congress, the decision of the people of the Union in the 
recent election, the legislative, executive, and judicial author- 
ities of the country all overthrown, and revolution and civil 
war inaugurated throughout her limits ? Does she want to be 
" bleeding Kansas" for the benefit of political agitators, with- 
in or out of her limits ; or does she prefer the peaceful and 
quiet arbitrament of this question for herself ? What benefit 
will the great body of the people of Kansas derive from these 
agitations ? They may, for a brief period, give consequence 
and power to political leaders and agitators, but it is at the 
expense of the happiness and welfare of the great body of the 
people of this territo|^. 

Those who oppose slavery in Kansas do not base their op- 
position upon any philanthropic principles, or any sympathy 
for the African race ; for in their so-called constitution, framed 
at Topeka, they deem that entire race so inferior and degraded 



S46 HISTORY OP KANSAS. 

as to exclude them all for ever from Kansas, whether they be 
bond or free — thus depriving them of all rights here, and de- 
nying even that they can be citizens of the United States ; 
for, if they are citizens, they could not constitutionally be ex- 
iled or excluded from Kansas. Yet such a clause, inserted in 
the Topeka constitution, was submitted by that convention for 
the vote of the people, and ratified here by an overwhelming 
majority of the anti-slavery party. This party here, therefore, 
has, in the most positive manner, affirmed the constitutionality 
of that portion of the recent decision of the Supreme Court 
of the IJnited States declaring that Africans are not citizens 
of the United States. 

This is the more important, inasmuch as this Topeka con- 
stitution was ratified, with this clause inserted, by the entire 
Republican party in Congress — thus distinctly affirming the 
recent decision of the Supreme Court of the Union, that Af- 
ricans are not citizens of the United SUites ; for if citizens, 
they may be elected to all offices, state and national, including 
the presidency itself; they must be placed upon a basis of 
perfect equality with the whites, serve with them in the militia, 
on the bench, the legislature, the jury box, vote in all elec- 
tions, meet us in social intercourse, and intermarry freely with 
the whites. This doctrine of the perfect equality of the white 
with the black, in all respects whatsoever, social and political, 
clearly follows from the position that Africans are citizens of 
the United States. Nor is the Supreme Court of the Union 
less clearly vindicated by the position now assumed here by 
the published creed of this party, that the people of Kansas, 
in forming their state constitution (and not Congress), must 
decide this question of slavery for themselves. Having thus 
sustained the court on both the controverted points decided 
by that tribunal, it is hoped they will not approve the anarchi- 
cal and revolutionary proceedings in other states, expunging 
the Supreme Court from our system by depriving it of the 
great power for which it was created, of expounding the con- 
stitution. If that be done, we can have in fact no unity of 
government or fundamental law, but just as many ever-vary- 
ing constitutions as passion, prejudice, and local interests may 
from time to time prescribe in the thirty-one states of the 
Union. 

I have endeavored heretofore faintly to foreshadow the 
wonderful prosperity, which would follow at once in Kansas 
the peaceful and final settlement of this question. But, if it 



GOVERNOR walker's INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 847 

should be in the power of agitators to prevent such a result, 
nothing but ruin will pervade our territory. Confidence will 
expire, and law and order will be subverted. Anarchy and 
civil war will be reinaugurated among us. All property will 
greatly depreciate in value. Even the best farms will become 
almost worthless. Our towns and cities will sink into decay. 
Emigration into our territory will cease. A mournful train of 
returning settlers, with ruined hopes and blasted fortunes, 
will leave our borders. All who have purchased property at 
present prices will be sacrificed^ and Kansas will be marked by 
universal ruin and desolation. 

Nor will the mischief be arrested here. It will extend into 
every other state. Despots will exult over the failure here of 
the great principles of self-government, and the approaching 
downfall of our confederacy. The pillars of the Union will 
rock upon their base, and we may close the next presidential 
conflict amid the scattered fragments of the constitution of our 
once happy and united people. The banner of the stars and 
stripes, the emblem 'of our country's glory, will be rent by 
contending factions. We shall no longer have a country. 
The friends of human liberty in other realms will shrink des- 
pairing from the conflict. Despotic power will* resume its 
sway throughout the world, and man will have tried in vain 
the last experiment of self-government. The architects of our 
country's ruin, the assassins of her peace and prosperity, will 
share the same common ruin of all ou* race. They will meet, 
whilst living, the bitter curses of a ruined people, whilst 
history will record as their only epitaph : These were the de- 
stroyers of the American Union, of the liberties of their country 
and of the xcorld. 

But I do not despair of the republic. My hope is in the 
patriotism and intelligence of the people; in their love of 
country, of liberty, and of the Union. Especially is my con- 
fidence unbounded in the hardy pioneers and settlers of the 
west. It was such settlers of a new state devoted to the 
constitution and the Union, whom I long represented in the 
Senate of the United States, and whose rights and interests it 
was my pride and pleasure there, as well as in the treasury 
department, to protect and advocate. It was men like these 
whose rifles drove back the invader from the plains of Orleans, 
and planted the stars and stripes upon the victorious field of 
Mexico. These are the men whom gold cannot corrupt nor 
foes intimidate. From their towns and villages, from their 



348 HISTORY OF KANSAS. 

farms and cottages, spread over the beautiful prairies of Kansas, 
they will come forward now in defence of the constitution and 
the Union. These are the glorious legacy they received from 
our fathers, and they will transmit to their children the price- . 
less heritage. Before the peaceful power of their suffrage this 
dangerous sectional agitation will disappear, and peace and 
prosperity once more reign throughout our borders. In the 
hearts of this noble band of patriotic settlers the love of their 
country and of the Union is inextinguishable. It leaves them 
not in death, but follows them into that higher realm, where, 
with Washington and Franklin, and their noble compatriots, 
they look down with undying affection upon their country, and 
offer up their fervent prayers that the Union and the consti- 
tution may be perpetual. For recollect, my fellow-citizens, 
that it is the constitution that makes the Union, and unless 
that immortal instrument, bearing the name of the Father of 
his Country, shall be maintained entire in all its wise provi- 
sions and sacred guarantees, our free institutions must perish. 
My reliance also is unshaken upon the same overruling 
Providence which has carried us triumphantly through so 
many perils and conflicts, which has lifted us to a height of 
power and prosperity unexampled in history, and, if we shall 
maintain the constitution and the Union, points us to a future 
more glorious and sublime than mind can conceive or pen 
describe. The march of our country's destiny, like that of 
His first chosen people, is marked by the foot-prints of the 
steps of God. The constitution and the Union are " the cloud 
by day, and the pillar of fire by night,'' which will carry us 
safely under his guidance, through the wilderness and bitter 
waters, into the promised and ever-extending fields of our 
country's glory. It is His hand which beckons us onward in 
the pathway of peaceful progress and expansion, of power 
and. renown, until our continent, in the distant future, shall 
be covered by the folds of the American banner, and, instructed 
by our example, all the nations of the world, through many 
trials and sacrifices, shall establish the great principles of our 
constitutional confederacy of free and sovereign states. 

R. J. Walker. 



THE END. 




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